


Needs and Wants: An At World's End Story

by HelenaHermione



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:50:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 43,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1675316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelenaHermione/pseuds/HelenaHermione
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Captain Jack Sparrow, desiring the return of his ship, is given a test in the purgatory desert of World's End, Elizabeth and Will must come to terms with their own relationship and must face treacherous waters. (Post DMC/Pre AWE story originally written in 2006 before At World's End came out, but using production details at the time to create an AU version of AWE.) Sparrabeth. (And this was my first fanfiction back in the day!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings and an End

**Author's Note:**

> It's a long story...this was originally posted on the IMDb forum boards for At World's End back in 2006, during the heady, hectic days when a whole bunch of fans used to post games and fanfiction of Sparrabeth and Will/Elizabeth while waiting for At World's End to be released. Back then, I was certain that Sparrabeth would win out (Due to a misconception on my part when I missed part of that scene where Elizabeth first kissed Captain Jack on their way to rescue Will) and so I joined in the Sparrabeth crowd and with production details and rumors that were floating around the At World's End forum, I created this fanfiction--my very first one! Luckily, before all of those IMDb messages were deleted, I saved this and posted it to fanfiction.net and now I'm finally bringing it over here, as it was in 2006.
> 
> Here's one of my original disclaimer notices on fanfiction. net, back when I thought such disclaimer notices were necessary on fanfiction: I do not own these characters, they are the property of the Disney Corporation, yadda yadda, I do not mean offense to Mickey or the board of directors, yadda yadda, why do they own Pirates?

The waves crashed up against the shore, foaming red, and a man crawled out of the tide, clutching a bloody sword and a pistol, gasping and vomiting, his mind blank...for he had been reborn again, soaked in Kraken blood. His first breath was of seawater when he fired and slashed his way out of the monster, his first movements had been paddling and kicking to get away from the sharks that had been approaching, and his first words were spoken as he crawled up from the tide-line.

The man muttered, "I need...I need something."

He collapsed on the beach, muttering to himself as he released his weapons and pushes them aside, clutching at something in his pocket...he pulled out a compass, the point spinning widely, and he fell asleep, dreaming of the spinning point.

xxxxxxxxx

The sun rose as the few surviving pirates loaded up their rowboats in the upriver swamp of Pelogosto, Tia Dalma and Elizabeth helping as Captain Hector Barbossa petted his monkey Jack, gazing out at the swamp.

Barbossa murmured, "To see the light of day after so long in darkness...and to feel the warmth when I could feel nothing for so long before. 'Tis another chance, that's what it is...I suppose I owe it to you, Tia Dalma."

Tia Dalma paused and turned to face him as she told him, "I knew when you died, true enough, for both your spirit and soul were struggling so in departure...you wanted to live. I went out to the Isla de la Muerta and brought back your body, still warm even though it had to have been two days since you were killed, but it still took me a long while to ease your soul and spirit back into the livin' realm. I said nothing to the others when they first came, I was still uncertain whether your soul would be stable enough to stay, for the soul is perhaps more important than the spirit and body, but it was lucky that they brought Jack."

Elizabeth blinked and quickly queried, "So did Jack know, Barbossa, did he see you?"

Barbossa sighed and responded, "She meant me monkey, the cute little thing...my soul stayed for him. Right, we're nearly ready to sail out...I know a friend in Tortuga, I think I can scare him into giving me a ship. Tia Dalma, will you come with us? I still don't feel right, you know, and I want to stay as long as I can..."

Tia Dalma nodded and neutrally told him, "I will keep you livin', for as long as you're needed by anyone."

Barbossa grinned and said, "I thank you kindly, I suppose, to be used in such a way."

xxxxxxxxx

Troops of soldiers, members of East India Company, paraded in the square of the fort of Port Royal under review of Lord Cutler Beckett and a grim Governor Weatherby Swann. Murtogg and Mullroy stood at attention close by, glancing at each other, as the two gentlemen turned and walked to a private balcony, accompanied by the two soldiers.

Beckett turned his head to Swann and queried, "What did you think of my men?"

Swann slowly nodded and responded, "They're fine enough, I suppose, so long as they are ordered not to harm Elizabeth when they find her. I will approve of their deployment, though in my opinion, Norrington isn't the right man to command them...he has failed before and I'm afraid he's too bitter, he might harm my daughter and then what would have been the use of all this? They're pirates, true, but they're still men...I pity them for what they're about to face."

Beckett frowned and asked, "How can that be so when you never pitied my mother, your cousin on the 'poor' side of your family?"

Governor Swann winced and answered, "Oh, Cutler…I am so sorry. I cannot amend for what happened all of those years ago, but I had no affection for her, not when I had my Natasha, and then I lost contact with her when she married your father and moved aboard…I never knew of their poor affairs."

Beckett growled and muttered, "Yes, it was a poor affair when, for all my titles and nobility, I still had to wear worn clothes and then I had to fight to earn a living as a poor clerk of the East India Company. Life was cruel to me and so I had to be cruel to survive and now I have become the manager of its affairs here in the Caribbean."

They reached the balcony and Beckett dismissed Murtogg and Mullroy, who warily retreated off to the side. Beckett spun about to face Governor Swann.

Beckett told him, "The fact of the matter is, Weatherby, you're too soft. When you were made governor of Jamaica, it was for the purpose of civilizing and taming the Caribbean, but the pirates continued to reign, even with the zeal of such men as Norrington, and your daughter even fraternized with them. The officials back in England have finally grown weary of your gentle ways. One of the tasks assigned to me when I came here was to examine your leadership and, if I found it to be unsuitable, I was given the power to relieve you of your duty. Mr. Weatherby Swann, you are no longer the governor of Jamaica. All of your wealth and title, here and in England, will be stripped from you."

Swann gasped and whimpered as he cried, "This is outrageous! Cutler, you're doing this just to spite me with your anger at your father, you're betraying me for my truthful choice of a life with Natasha! What about Elizabeth, you swore to me that she would be safe!"

Beckett sneered and remarked, "Why would a lord like myself promise to protect a pirate, even if that pirate is a girl? My pact with you means nothing, you are of no further use to me...and my name is Lord Beckett."

Cutler Beckett slapped Weatherby Swann and pushed him, he was so unbalanced by these betrayals that he fell, his head slamming on the stone as Murtogg and Mullroy rushed over, halting at the glare of Lord Beckett.

Beckett ordered them, "As governor, I will allow you both to take him to a doctor, much good it will do him."

Lord Beckett strode off and the two soldiers bent down, aghast at all of this as Weatherby Swann lifted his head and murmured, "I see her...my darling Natasha."

Murtogg whisperd, "It'll be fine, sir, the doctor can save you."

Swann grunted and murmured, "You two...I bid you both to be loyal to me, to find my daughter and protect her...my Natasha wants my daughter to know something. There are words, powerful words, that she must know..."

Swann murmurs these words and Murtogg and Mullroy memorize them, promising to obey him, as Weatherby Swann dies, the noon sun crisping the stones of the fort.


	2. Meetings and Motives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Jack Sparrow encounters his father Teague in purgatory as Captain Barbossa meets Captain Sao Feng.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so at the time I first wrote this, fans knew from production spoilers that Captain Jack's father Teague would be featured in AWE, that Jack's ship the Black Pearl would be in a desert purgatory, and that there would be another new character, a Chinese pirate named Captain Sao Feng, which led to this.
> 
> And this was my fanfiction.net disclaimer of the time: I do not own these characters, so is that shady business?

The man reborn of Kraken blood stood in a place beyond time and space, a desert distorted…his clothes were now dry and dusty with sand and grit as he took off his hat and fanned himself. He was still somber and indifferent to such a change as he glanced around, he was simply wondering what else was going to befall him. Suddenly, he squinted and slowed his fanning, placing his hat back on his head as he stepped forward, suddenly shadowed from the sunlight...shocked, yet now hopeful, he staggered, then walked, and then ran forward. Though slightly blurred by the heat, it was still there as he advanced closer...the facade of a ship, worn and pockmarked by barnacles on the hull, with the tattered sails fluttering on the masts, too immovable and yet too fragile in this desert environ.

The man slowed to a halt a few inches from the bow and reached out to touch the wood, rubbing and ignoring the splinters as he felt something stirring, deep within him...he murmured, "Black Pearl. My home."

He smiled to himself, to have remembered something, and he thought that this is probably what he needed...he started to walk along the perimeter of the hull, wondering if there was a way he could climb onboard, and suddenly there was a rope ahead, hanging down its length. He chuckled to himself and strolled over to the rope, but suddenly there is a tug...he sprinted and leapt toward it, but sprawled in the sand as the rope slipped through his fingers, burning him, someone has pulled up the rope.

He groaned and lifted his head, muttering, "Bugger."

He managed to stand and, realizing that someone must be up there, he staggered back until he could see someone gazing down at him...with the bright sunlight, he couldn't see this person clearly, but he could see that the fellow was twirling the bottom end of the rope now.

The man bereft of his memory now hoarsely yelled, "Hello! That's not your ship, that's my ship...uh, savvy? I...I am the captain, that's right! Drop the rope and let me board my Black Pearl, I need to!"

Now the other fellow exclaimed, "Ah, me boy Jack, I know it pains ye to be so helpless, but it's for your own good. You say ya need to board, but that's not what ya really need...you're just confusing your want with your need. I told ye, when you left for sea, that the need to sail would doom ya...and here you are, a pirate cursed, your ship stuck here, and ya don't know what you need to board. Well, I'll give ye some comfort...pull up the sleeve on your right arm and you'll know who ya are."

Jack blinks and pulls up his right sleeve, rubbing his tattoos as he stared at the seabird, before he grumbled, "Jack...Captain Jack Seagull? Is that my name...father?"

His father growled and bellowed, "You're an idiot, always has been! Sparrow! I named ya Jack Sparrow, as me father had named me Teague Sparrow! But you're not just satisfied with that, ye strut around and always insist on being called Captain now, an arrogant idiot! I mean, right now ye just confused your wants and your needs! You're a shame to me and your family name!"

Jack cleared his throat and lectured, "So...you're saying that I don't need the Pearl in that I've mistaken the want for a need, but you're confessing that my need to leave home was sound, probably because it was born of your own accursed need to drink due to your want of drowning grief for my mother Pearl, who did not see the need to leave our burning house in the want for saving her father's portrait, so in retrospect I am truly a Sparrow in confusing wants and needs, which I have followed closely by, years ago, needing to free those bound in chains and needing to sail still, even branded as a pirate for so-called crimes, which is why I wanted to name my resurrected ship the Black Pearl and which is why I...want to board, now, but you're telling me that I need something else more importantly than that."

Teague Sparrow grinned and muttered, "You're an idiot, but I'll admit that ya can learn, and maybe ye can still honor your family name if ye do good."

Jack growls and remarks, "Sure, whatever, I just have to figure out the right leverage needed to board in the first place...bugger it, I'll be stuck here until the opportune moment of enlightenment comes to me. And how long will that take?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Chinese warship 'The Empress', a large, long ship embellished with curves, was anchored at a dock in the harbor of Tortuga this evening, bobbing in the water with ropes attached to the posts. Its gangplanks had also been lowered, toward the bow of the ship, while the stern is in shadow, and right now, its crew staggered up and down these planks, unloading heavy crates. Their labor was supervised by their captain, a man dressed in Manchu clothes yet his head was wrapped up in a bandana, his private protest at having to be forced by Chinese law to keep his head shaved with the exception of his quene. He yelled in Cantonese at some of his sailors, sliding his sword out of his sheath and gesturing with the blade toward the correct spot as several sailors shifted the crates. Suddenly, one sailor glanced behind his captain and cried out, pointing as the other sailors looked up, gasping as one of them dropped his crate. The captain growled, but he slowly turned around to see what had caught his attention...a man had just stepped onto their dock, the light of Tortuga behind him as he strode toward the Chinese ship and crew, the members of which muttered to each other. Their captain, however, said nothing and took a few steps toward the other man, who had now halted a few feet away from them, a skeleton monkey perched on his left shoulder.

Captain Barbossa nodded and remarked, "Tis a fine evening, my good Captain Sao Feng, a right night for shady business and for ghosts to wander."

The Chinese sailors said nothing, though a few glanced at their unmarked crates, but Captain Sao Feng hardly flinched as he commented, "Captain Barbossa...I have heard about what happened to you, shot down in the midst of an attack by Royal Marines against you. So you are a ghost?"

Barbossa sighed and replied, "Rightly enough, my former friend in life, I died upon a strange isle, though not exactly in the crossfire of British muskets...it was a bit more personal than that, and that's the real truth. It pains me even now, but I manage not to let the thought pester me...in death. Aye, I come here because I felt your presence in Tortuga, the place where I experienced the pleasures that pirating had to offer before I was cursed, and I wanted to parley a little, if you'll grant that pity to an old ghoul."

Meanwhile, with the Chinese sailors riveted upon this supernatural meeting and Sao Feng glancing away in discomfort, a small longboat bobbed alongside 'The Empress', crewed by the surviving members of Jack's crew: Joshamee Gibbs, Tia Dalma, Cotton (and his parrot), Marty, Pintel and Ragetti, and Will and Elizabeth. The pirates stared up at the ship while far in the distance behind them, ships sailed in and out of the harbor, of various shapes and models, likely going off for their own shady business this evening.

Gibbs squinted and muttered, "Right then, I hear Captain Barbossa talking...took him long enough to get to that dock, I wonder what was holding him up? Well, anyway, make sure your weapons are securely fastened when we start climbing the ropes, we don't want anything clanging, splashing, or discharging. This ship is heavily manned, our only luck will be to have the element of surprise."

Cotton's parrot squawked, "15 men on a dead man's chest."

Gibbs shuddered and muttered, "Right, that could happen, if this doesn't go well."

Elizabeth, sitting beside Will, realized that he had stopped rowing and she turned her head to see that he was staring at her...Elizabeth blinked and asked, "What's wrong?"

Will sighed and answered, "Well, it's just that...I want some peace of mind before we go through all of this. Elizabeth, when we were abandoning ship, I saw...I saw you kiss Jack."

The susurration of the oars sweeping the waves abruptly dissipated as the crew turned to gawk at Will and Elizabeth while she gasped and lowered her head as she whispered, "Will...this isn't exactly the right time."

Meanwhile, Captain Sao Feng turned his gaze back toward Barbossa now, steady as he arched his eyebrows and remarked, "Parley? That is an odd word to use, to speak for bargaining, especially when you are dead. To be dead, to be a ghost, there is supposed to be nothing more needed...no pleasure and no pain, no desire and no sustenance, you're supposed to fade to nothing more than a wisp from that. Yet here you are, standing in front of me...seeming to be almost as solid as you were in life. And what about your monkey, the one you named Jack soon after buying it from me with your cursed gold piece, how can he be sitting on your shoulder? How can you support his weight?"

Captain Barbossa cleared his throat and explained, "My poor monkey was killed alongside me, loyal to the end, he is as much a ghost as I am. As for my request to parley with you, just a slip of a tongue in truth, the Pirate Code remains true to my soul and I thought it would be appropriate, considering how our conversation is serious in nature, being between the living and the dead."

The Chinese crew muttered amongst themselves, especially when a cloud passed in front of the moon to change Jack the monkey back again, as Sao Feng scowled and commented, "What salvation have you found? You weren't always true to the Pirate Code in your own life, as I seem to recall, so why should it be so true to you now in death? You could bend the Pirate Code for your own needs and you are a strange man, touched by the unnatural, so evil that hell spat you back out as some say...did you even bend death to meet your desires?"

Meanwhile, in the longboat, Will rubbed his forehead and explained, "I did try to speak to you, before, but I couldn't say the words, not so soon after the kraken ate Jack. Yet now that we're risking our lives, that image is bothering me, I don't want to die with my mind nagging me, disturbing my peace forever. And if I do survive, I...I don't want to waste my life haunted by doubt."

Elizabeth sighed and murmured, "The kiss meant nothing, especially when Jack is dead."

Will scowled and queried, "Did the kiss mean something then, I want to know that."

Elizabeth groaned and screamed, "No! I only kissed him so that he wouldn't notice that I was tying him to the mast!"

The crew gasped and stared at her, aghast, while on the dock, the Chinese sailors started yelling in Cantonese, pulling out cutlasses and pistols as they raced toward their ship, toward the sound of the female yell. Meanwhile, Captain Barbossa cursed and unsheathed his sword, blocking the swing of Sao Feng's blade as the two men glared at each other, a moment before chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And apparently when I wrote this, my favorite phrases were Barbossa: "Tis a fine evening, my good Captain Sao Feng, a right night for shady business and for ghosts to wander" and...'a moment before chaos.' Although I am quite fond of Captain Jack's rambling speech about mistaking wants and needs, even all these years later.


	3. When Pirates Come Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tortuga explodes and Governor Weatherby Swann arrives in purgatory alongside Captain Jack and Teague.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, there were rumors that Elizabeth Swann's father would die, which turned out to be true. A lot of other stuff here in my fanfiction didn't turn out the way I thought they would when the third movie came out. Oh, well.
> 
> Here are my original fanfiction.net notes: Here we are again, and as to the tension between Will and Elizabeth, that is about to be delayed for awhile due to the chaos that is about to strike Tortuga. (By the way, Tortuga is a real place in the Caribbean, off the coast of Haiti/Dominican Republic, you learn something new everyday, don't ya?) By the way, as to colloquial diction...I am a bit lazy as to that. I only tried to change up Teague's 'you' and your' without any specific regional identity and I didn't even try to work with Dalma's Caribbean diction. In any case, I have been trying to maintain a dignity with Sao Feng, which is why he isn't going to capture Elizabeth in this story (as rumored to be part of the movie)
> 
> And the original disclaimer: I do not own these characters...Damn.

Suddenly, there was an explosion not far from the dock, startling Captain Barbossa and Captain Sao Feng, and they lowered their blades as they turned to gaze at a building, a gaping hole right in the middle of it as wood cracked, unstable. Out in the longboat floating beside 'The Empress', the crew forgot about Elizabeth's revelation as they twisted themselves around to see, in the distance, 'The Dauntless' turned toward the pirate haven, a canon smoking within its side, and other British ships sailing towards the harbor. Then another cannon from 'The Dauntless' fired, the cannonball soaring through the air and crashing into another building, this time a tavern. Pirates staggered about, most yelling, but only a few people really ran for cover...Tortuga had an infamous history, fought over by the Spanish, the French, and the British, and pirates in general are usually unfazed by cannon-fire.

Gibbs, however, was glum as he stared at the tavern, muttering, "Damn." He turned and looked out at the Dauntless as he muttered, "Looks like the East India Company finally got the political approval they needed...there is no haven in the Caribbean for us now."

Suddenly, they heard some shouts in Cantonese and they looked up the side of The Empress, seeing the Chinese pirates looking out across the water, although some of these men were looking down at them, having been alerted by Elizabeth's cry, but now wasn't the time for fighting. At that moment, the heads of Captain Barbossa, Jack the monkey, and Sao Feng appeared over the side, gazing down at Barbossa's crew as Sao sighed and called out, ordering his men to lower the ropes. A few moments later, the longboat was heaved onto the deck of the Chinese warship and the pirates clambered out, glancing around in amazement at the subtle differences.

However, Elizabeth strode over to Sao Feng and asked, "Do you have a spyglass?"

Sao nodded, reaching around to pull it out of a hostler, extending the spyglass to its full length as he held out the eyepiece towards her, smiling as he told her, "I am always prepared, my lady, for whatever should come my way, engagement -wise."

Elizabeth frowned and snatched it away from him before she turned around, lifting it to her eye as she focused the lens on 'The Dauntless' before she sighed and muttered, "It's Norrington...he's in charge of the bombardment. He must have gotten Davy Jones's heart for Lord Beckett to have this honor."

Will slowly nodded, squinting into the darkness as he wondered if he could see the Flying Dutchman sailing towards Tortuga, commanded by the men holding Davy's heart, or if he could see Norrington on the Dauntless...he didn't know what he wanted to attack more, Norrington or the heart. Captain Sao gazed at Elizabeth, then turned away as he commanded his sailors to pull anchor and prepare to sail, to leave before the approaching armada could block the harbor. He turned to face Captain Barbossa, who rubbed his forehead, but then he told his own small crew to help out. Will reluctantly walked away and joned Elizabeth, Gibbs, Marty, Cotton, Pintel and Ragetti as they rushed over to work alongside the Chinese sailors, united by their knowledge of sailing and desperation born of their risk of capture, despite their different languages and cultures. Some of the Chinese sailors, unnoticed by the others, climbed down from the mast and headed over to the stern, to work on an errand that would ensure their safety. Tia Dalma walked over towards the mast, chanting to call upon the wind to speed their departure, but her work was mainly ignored by both crews, they had seen stranger things in their lives. Sao Feng glanced at Barbossa, who met his gaze evenly despite his discomfort.

Sao muttered, "So, you're alive, I suppose by her magic. Tell me, though, why was it necessary? For you to live and then for you all to come here and try to steal my ship, does it have something to do with this Norrington?"

Barbossa sighed and murmured, "A little...have you heard tales about Davy Jones?"

Sao shrugged and replied, "Going back and forth from Hong Kong to the Caribbean, I have heard a few tales. So, it is true...what trouble have you gotten yourself into?"

Barbossa shook his head and told him, "It is not I who is in trouble, but it is Captain Jack Sparrow...we're going to World's End, to bring him back from the threshold of the dead. Not quite certain why they want him back, but I am at their bidding, so I will do their work for now."

Sao chuckled and muttered, "I bet you have a tale to tell, an adventure for me and my crew...you know, you could have just asked, you didn't have to try and steal from your old pal."

Barbossa just explained, "Well, I am a pirate."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the distorted desert beyond time and space, Captain Jack Sparrow opened his eyes and blinked, glancing around as he muttered, "Oh, bugger...I saw myself, for a moment, on the beach of that deserted isle. I must be feverish, but this is still real...what is that isle?"

From above, Teague Sparrow replied, "That doesn't matter, it was just your portal to World's End. I mean, I died a few years ago back in England, just outside a pub where I drank myself to death, yet I still have been drawn here, to your ship. I never was on one before in my life...they always looked too flimsy, too small to me, out there in the water, but seeing this monstrosity on land...the view is quite different."

Jack chuckled and remarked, "Never liked to travel...are we even related? Well, then again, perhaps we are...I can never get enough of rum, that probably would have done me in if I wasn't to die on that island."

Teague growled and shouted, "Son, don't tell me ye're giving up! After all ya've been through, after all ye've survived...I never knew of your exploits in life, but I have witnessed them in death and they amazed me! I did nothing with my life, but at least ya sought adventure and freedom, even if it has cursed ye to this...just think! Just think of what ya need, more than anything, and ye can make it out before it's too late."

Jack turned his head and glanced up, surprised by such praise from his father, but he cleared his throat and said, "Well, I'll try, but I can only think of wants...like rum, savvy? Still, even that need of rum is weak. Why is that?"

Teague clapped and cried, "I was wondering when ya would notice! Think, my boy, when did ye first start to drink rum?"

Jack gasped and staggered to his feet as he replied, "All of 13 years ago, not long after...my soul. Is my contract with Davy Jones broken?"

Teague pointed down and yelled, "See for yourrself, the Black Mark is gone! When ya died from the Kraken swallowing ye, the bond was snapped, and even when ya were reborn from the Kraken's blood, the bond never reconnected! Ye have your soul, Jack, that's the one good thing about this awful place...and I see someone coming this way. A man, dead, but he's walking towards us now...I believe he is meant to be here for your sake, Jack."

Jack Sparrow winced and slowly turned around, seeing only a bare shadow in the distance with Teague's high vantage-point lending a better view, as he queried, "What does the man look like?"

From above, he heard Teague exclaim, "A middle-aged man, not much younger than I was when I died...but his status is far better than mine ever was! He's dressed in fine clothes and he's wearing a large wig!"

Jack groaned and whispered, "Governor Swann, Elizabeth's father. Oh, bugger, what could have brought him here?"

Captain Jack Sparrow raced off across the desert, his father Teague watching as he approached Governor Swann and took his hand, leading the man towards the sheltering shadow of the Black Pearl and heard a snippet of conversation.

Governor Weatherby Swann was telling Jack, "...So then Lord Beckett betrayed me, my own cousin, he denounced me and stripped me of my titles, my property, he's now the governor. Then he...he pushed me and my head...it was getting dark. There were these two soldiers, good fellows, I told them to go find my Elizabeth and keep her safe, but my wife Natasha...I saw her, just before I died. She told me a message, powerful words, and I related them to the soldiers so that Elizabeth would know them."

Jack frowned and asked, "Powerful words? Like a spell? What were they for?"

Governor Swann shook his head and answered, "I, I don't really know, and I had to say them so fast, and then there came the shock of my death...I can't remember what I said. Is that your ship? What happened?"

Jack sighed and told him, "It's a long story. I'm not dead, not quite yet, and I have to climb onto the Black Pearl, I think that will get me out of this limbo and back to the living world. However, I...I have to figure out what I need. Still, I suppose I'll get out, and when I do...I'll kill Cutler. He's the cause of everything, of all of my curses, and to do that to you...there is no honor, no reason, it is beyond the crimes of any pirate, it is heartless...rot and corruption of evil, darker than the abyss."

Governor Swann stared at Jack and murmured, "I can't believe...an honorable pirate. I should have known you better in life, Captain Sparrow. If you do get back on your ship, I...I can tie knots. I can hold a sword. I don't know for certain, if I will be a ghost or...or something else when we get out of limbo on your Black Pearl, but I will still try to fight, in whatever form I take."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And my favorite phrases at the time: "Well, I am a pirate", Mr. Obvious being Captain Barbossa and, of course, Governor Swann's last little speech.


	4. To Understand a Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Empress sails away from Tortuga, a meeting with Captain Sao Feng is held belowdecks while Will and Elizabeth get into a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original notes: At this point, I seem to recall that I once heard it was reported, probably on the news or so, that an old Chinese world map had been found, either predating or not too long after Columbus's first trip. I don't know if I may have been mistaken or not, but I'm putting it in here since it suits me. Now, as to the title, sometimes it is hard to understand guys...and it's probably hard for them to understand us. On that note, this will be one of the few times that I have Elizabeth crying in my story.
> 
> Original disclaimer: Hold on, let me see that contract...are these words? They look like squiggles! Oh, whatever, I'll sign...'I, HelenaHermione, do not own these characters.' There, is that good enough for you?

As 'The Empress' sailed away from Tortuga, Captain Sao Feng invited Barbossa and his crew to a meeting down in his quarters, although he also brought along a few of his own pirates as a precaution. Entering the room, the Caribbean pirates glanced around at the array of navigation and astronomical instruments, surprised by the sight of a desk, flanked on both sides by awkward bookcases, covered in books, scrolls, and rolled-up maps. The people squeezed their way into the room, allowing Barbossa, Elizabeth, Tia Dalma, Sao Feng and Gibbs to sit down at the small table while the rest stood or squatted. Marty walked around and glanced at a corner where a cot was squashed into the confines and he sat down, soon joined by Cotton as he settled slowly onto the cot, his parrot squawking and grunting to express the weariness.

Ragetti, cleaning his wooden eye with his stained shirt, wandered over to the desk and opened one of the books, frowning as he queried, "Are these words? They look like squiggles."

Pintel grunted and lightly smacked Ragetti as he responded, "Of course they're words, they're just not English words."

Ragetti blinked and commented, "Huh, I didn't know there was more than one kind."

Will walked up beside Ragetti and Pintel, discussing language, but he ignored them as he gazed at the elaborate map framed above the desk, an unrolled scroll showing the entire spread of the world, though with slight inaccuracies. However, it was the plaque on the frame that intrigued him.

Will glanced over towards Captain Sao and asked, "According to the plaque on the frame, it says that it was made in 1460. Is that right?"

Captain Sao Feng growled and answered, "It's right enough, you may think that your Columbus was the first to see the New World, but such wasn't the case. The old empire of China has been a ruler of its seas for many centuries, the junks sailing from India to Japan and beyond, we made it around the southern tip of South America long before Columbus dreamed of setting sail. We are masters of the seas, we have mapped its regions for many years, and such has been the case when it comes to the Caribbean. Personally, I think that I am carrying on that tradition, though certainly not for the sake of the Manchu dynasty...I do not care for the way they run my China, so the Caribbean is the place for me to have my freedom. Of course, I am a reasonable man and I always see fit to make sure that this freedom comes with an advantage to me...now, tell me all that has happened. Tell me of all the adventures and curses, to know all of the facts will aid my decision in whether I shall give my full support in this endeavor."

In turns, Barbossa and the rest told their tales, describing Captain Jack Sparrow and then the latest exploits in the demands of Davy Jones for Jack's soul and the subsequent struggles for Davy's heart. They ended the story by relating how the Kraken swallowed both Jack and the Black Pearl and their own suspicions of Norrington delivering the heart straight to the East India Company.

Tia Dalma spoke last, explaining, "Such is our cause, to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from World's End, but to do so we must find it first. Captain Barbossa has been there, he told me a little about it when I returned him to the livin' realm, but it is an unsettled place, it shifts to other locations...Barbossa suggested that we should steal your ship. I should have protested, forgive me for doubting that you could help us find it, but I was uncertain and now that I see your instruments, some beyond normal invention...when you gave me that compass, did you make it in the first place?"

Sao Feng nodded and smiled as he replied, "Yes, that I did. The Compass of Want, that was what I called it...from what you tell me, Captain Jack Sparrow used it well, just as I did before I gave it to Dalma, having made my choices. I see you are all surprised, I suppose the rest of you didn't that it had been made by my hands...it is extraordinary, yes, in its powers. You see, the Caribbean isn't the only place of...beauty and curses, of ancient power and violent upheavals, the tropical islands match our beautiful mountains and valleys while the hurricanes match the seasonal flooding of our rivers. World's End, perhaps, doesn't belong in the Caribbean alone...perhaps it is connected to all places, perhaps even to my China. I will help you all, yes, Barbossa and I will together find what you all seek...just remember our rewards."

As Barbossa and Sao Feng discussed other matters, Elizabeth sighed and stood up from the table, walking out of the captain's quarters as she felt that she needed some fresh air. Out of the corners of their eyes, the pirates followed her steps, wondering what she felt about their quest for Jack Sparrow when she had doomed him with a kiss, noticing the tilt of her chin and her sharp eyes...Jack had called her 'pirate'. A few moments later, Will set off after her as Ragetti and Pintel glanced at each other.

Ragetti whispered, "Uncle, do you think they're going to argue?"

Pintel shrugged and muttered, "Ah, probably, love's not perfect, especially if it goes downhill."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

On reaching the deck of 'the Empress', Elizabeth walked over to the railing close to the bow, gazing out towards Tortuga, its lights fading away in their wake, yet she knew what was happening there now. The streets would be full of fire and turmoil, even more so than usual since this would be caused by the soldiers rounding up the last remnants of Caribbean pirates, and Norrington would be striding through it all, bitter and angry, his heart cold to the destruction. Suddenly, she heard steps approaching and she slowly turned around, staring at Will.

Will cleared his throat and asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Elizabeth sighed and answered, "Just getting some air, it was cramped down there in Sao Feng's quarters...besides, it was beyond me now, their business. Now, I've answered your question, so I want to know why you followed me. Is it about Jack, what I did to him?"

Will glanced away then and murmured, "I...I don't know what you mean."

Elizabeth frowned and exclaimed, "Don't deny it! I know everyone's looking at me now, trying to analyze my movement, they know that I've...I've turned, I've changed! I never thought that bloody pirates could be so judgmental, like the aristocrats that used to watch me at my father's galas. Will, do you want to know...want to know what surprises me the most?"

Will turned his head and queried, "What?"

Elizabeth weakly smiled, her eyes tearing as she cried, "I don't care! I used to hate it when the aristocrats judged me, but that was different...they were just looking at my facade. The pirates are judging me, now, on my guts because I am one of them now...I'm a pirate! It's just...so strong, the thrill, the confidence...I don't give a hoot, drink up me hearties, yo-ho! Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me...and it could be my life! What do you think, Will?"

Will stared at her and replied, "I...Elizabeth, you don't know what you're saying. It's hard, it's accursed, look at what happened to all of those men on the Flying Dutchmen, my own father!"

Elizabeth shook her head and whispered, "Yes, I know that, but to be a pirate is to free yourself from controls, from tyrants. Davy Jones, he's not a pirate, he and Norrington and Beckett...they're the ones that are damning piracy, the ones without a heart or a soul, nothing but cruelty, without a care for freedom. If I do this, if I become a pirate, I can take care of myself, I know how to fight."

Will groaned and muttered, "You can't do this, not really, you were sheltered for so long. If you go out there, if you go into piracy, I'll have to watch your back and even then, I might not be able to take care of you the way that you should be treated. I love you, Elizabeth, I don't want to see you hurt."

Elizabeth frowned and told him, "Will, you can never take me seriously. I'm strong now, stronger than I was when Barbossa captured me, but you can't really see that. All you can see is a lady, the lady that you fell in love with at a distance, riding around in her carriage wearing a corset and a dress. A damsel in distress, someone that needed to be saved...you always want to save someone."

Will shook his head, turning his back on her as he shouted, "I'm not like that, Elizabeth, I certainly am no knight in shining armor!"

Elizabeth turned her head toward Tortuga, burning in the distance, as she murmured, "That day when I first met you, when we fished you out of the water after that merchant ship exploded from Barbossa's attack...what did you see then, Will? When you were so young and helpless, how many men were killed in front of you...how many men that you couldn't save because you didn't know how to fight, didn't know how to kill a pirate. You're not a knight, I know...you just don't want any more people to die."

Will said nothing and Elizabeth sighed as she walked off, to head back below-decks, the air had cleared her mind too much. Meanwhile, up at the bow, Will glanced over at several rowboats, a few grouped at this end, and then turned to face Tortuga...he could also imagine Norrington in the midst of its destruction. With such a thought, he glanced around to make sure that none of the Chinese sailors were near, but they were off towards the stern, and so he walked over to a rowboat, to lower it and himself into the water.

As Elizabeth wandered below-decks, feeling exhausted, she suddenly collided with Tia Dalma, who gasped and cried, "Elizabeth! I felt a disturbance up there! I was coming, to make sure that nothing was wrong, where's Will?"

Elizabeth blinked and replied, "I...I just left him, Tia Dalma. I don't know what you mean, but...we were arguing, if that's what you're talking about."

Tia Dalma shook her head and told her, "Words can hurt, Elizabeth, and I fear what can happen in consequence. Stay near, I'm going up to look for Will, I'll try to soften him so that you can apologize...love can't be maintained with just a kiss and sweet words, it is a struggle that two people must cope with if they want to stay together forever."

Elizabeth sighed as Tia Dalma walked off, she was being too dramatic...surely Will wouldn't take such offense, he was reasonable. A few minutes passed and Elizabeth fidgeted, wondering what was taking so long between them, and she started to clench her fists, trying not to think that Dalma could be toying with Will. Suddenly, Tia Dalma returned, followed by Gibbs, Captain Barbossa, and Sao Feng and Elizabeth stared at them, suddenly dreading what they would tell her.

Gibbs sighed and whispered, "Will's nowhere to be found and there's a rowboat missing. We've been talking with Captain Sao Feng and, even though it's against the pirate code, we've convinced him to go back for your Will."

Sao Feng crossed his arms and stated, "If we are to go back to Tortuga, I am not taking any chances. I am docking my ship on the far side of the island, away from the city and from the armada attacking the harbor. My men and I will not leave this ship, you and your friends are responsible for going into town to find your fiancé. I will wait until dawn, then I will sail-if I spot a ship of the East India Company approaching in the distance, I will sail without delay. If any of you are captured or killed, I will not risk my neck any further, I will sail with those that survive to return on time. Go, though I want nothing to do with this business, I will at least wish you all luck...so long as you are sensible and wary to avoid any strangers."

A few moments later, 'The Empress' had reached the far beach of Tortuga and a rowboat dropped into the water to make the long trip back around to the harbor, with Pintel and Ragetti at the oars while Elizabeth, Gibbs, and Cotton sat in silence. They had been chosen for the mission of retrieving Will, being the most inconspicuous members of the pirates, a party mostly made up of old fellows that appeared non-threatening and a young woman. With luck, none of the soldiers in Tortuga would suspect or arrest them on charge of piracy...Elizabeth, in silence, contemplated what had happened. Will knew the risk, it made no sense, why did he leave? Elizabeth stewed, Will had disappointed her once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original end-note: What did she mean, 'once again'? This'll be explained in a later chapter. Favorite phrases: You can't go wrong with Ragetti and Pintel with such classics as "Huh, I didn't know there was more than one kind" and "love's not perfect, especially if it goes downhill" and Tia Dalma's advice...though I realize she sounds a little like a 'call a psychic' person.


	5. The Ambush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will meets Murtogg and Mullroy, delivering the sad news of Weatherby Swann's death, and an old friend joins the crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original notes: In any case, here I'm at first going back and forth between Will and Elizabeth in their separate parties before they really get into trouble. Originally, I just had them spotted or so, but here...how did they know those pirates were going to be there? I changed the plot to coincide with the intro of another character. Now, the words at the end of this chapter are part of a longer piece of prose, one that will be revealed in its entirety in a later chapter, but I thought it would be suitable to have these first few lines here to reflect on...one or two of the characters.
> 
> My original disclaimer: I do not own these characters (Does anyone know if I have to put this up with every chapter or was once enough for any monitors?)

Meanwhile, Will had rowed himself into the harbor, slightly surprised at the traffic of small rowboats going in and out from Tortuga, most filled with pirates evacuating. Of course, some of these pirates had seen fit to disguise themselves…he once saw a boat full of 'women' speeding past him. Closer to a dock, he saw another boat, bobbing close by him without even any haste of alarm, manned by a fellow wearing a large straw hat that shadowed his face, but Will almost swore that this man watched his progress. After Will docked, he crept amongst what shadows were available in the streets of Tortuga, with such searing fires illuminating everything this night, careful to avoid the marching troops of soldiers as he slipped down alleyways. Occasionally, he sensed the presence of other pirates following his same route in escape, but he ignored them...they wouldn't, couldn't help him, they would either slip away or be captured. Besides, the sword in his sheath was all he needed tonight, when he should seek out Norrington and sneak up on him...perhaps he had Davy Jones's heart, perhaps he didn't, but then the only reason why the heart had slipped away in the first place was because of Norrington. Suddenly, two figures appeared in front of him, blocking his passage down this alley...he unsheathed his sword and stepped forward, growling.

Will bellowed, "Let me pass if you value your lives, the only blood I want to spill is Norrington's, but that doesn't mean I'll spare you two if you hinder me now!"

One of the figures, Murtogg, raised his hands and cried, "Mr. Turner, please don't hurt us! We're not against you, but it's urgent that you take us to Miss. Swann, she shouldn't be in this mess!"

At that same time, the other rowboat from 'The Empress' had docked at another pier, one of the few that wasn't occupied by an East India naval ship or torched. Pintel and Ragetti would stay with the boat while Gibbs, Elizabeth and Cotton, with the two men flanking the lady on either side, stepped out onto the pier and strode down its length, careful to appear both secure yet meek, maintaining a measured stride without breaking into a panicked run. Elizabeth glanced around, but there weren't any soldiers nearby...they could slip out of the docks and into the town without being spotted as suspiciously coming in. A few moments later, they were making their way across a street, a building burning not far away, to head towards an opportune alleyway.

Meanwhile, Will gasped and lowered the blade of his sword, sheathing it as he murmured, "Oh...yes, I remember you two. I'm sorry for threatening you both, but I'm desperate...no, Elizabeth isn't here, I sort of slipped away from her. She's safe, fellows...she's not in any sort of mess."

Mullroy nodded and said, "Right, Mr. Turner, but I must say that your intent to destroy Norrington is a bit futile at the moment."

Murtogg glanced over and remarked, "Well, if he's really desperate, perhaps he could manage to sneak up and stab him, if he's lucky."

Mullroy shook his head and said, "No, that won't work, he's not desperate enough to try sneaking up on Norrington when he's guarded by 5 soldiers at least."

Murtogg shrugged and countered, "Well, his intent is pretty strong and if he's lucky, he could distract those 5 soldiers and then stab Norrington."

Mullroy sighed in exasperation and exclaimed, "But he's alone, he's slipped away from all of the other pirates, he can't both distract 5 soldiers and stab Norrington all at once! It won't work, no amount of intent is going to make up for such a discrepency of numbers! It's futile, it's just a desperate mess!"

Will rubbed his forehead and yelled, "Alright, alright, I won't do it! Just please stop arguing! Listen, if you two have something urgent to tell Elizabeth, you're going to have to come with me."

Murtogg blinked and queried, "What? You mean join up with you and the other pirates?"

Will glanced around and nodded as he responded, "That's exactly what I mean, if Norrington or anyone finds out that you've been talking to me, you'll both be arrested. It's for the best...Elizabeth's a pirate and you want to protect her? Then be a pirate."

Mullroy shrugged and told him, "Well, alright then...hey! I thought you said Elizabeth wasn't here!"

Will blinked and suddenly collapsed, conked on the head by Gibbs with the hilt of his sword. Gibbs, Cotton, and Elizabeth caught Will before he could fall on the ground while Cotton's parrot squawked, "Heavier than bags of gold!"

Murtogg and Mullroy gasped at each other, then rushed forward to help pick up Will while Elizabeth stepped back, gazing at the two soldiers as she asked, "What are you two doing here?"

Murtogg grimaced and, struggling with Will, managed to say, "Miss Swann, we...we regret to say...your father, miss."

Elizabeth paled and faltered, gasping like she was wearing a corset again as she murmured, "No...he was so healthy, when last I saw him."

Mullroy lifted up Will's feet as he shook his head and explained, "No, Miss. Elizabeth, it wasn't anything like sickness, it was...your father was stripped of all of his titles and property, by Lord Beckett. Then, when he was protesting against this betrayal, when he had signed the deployment form for the East India Company with Beckett's supposed promise that you would be safe...Beckett shoved him when he was so unsteady."

Gibbs shook his head while Elizabeth clenched her fists, her eyes tearing as she stared out into the night, Tortuga blazing as she muttered, "To knock my father down, at his weakest...that's the way of Beckett indeed. How long ago, does anyone else know that Cutler did this to my father?"

They finally started to walk, with Will as their burden, as Murtogg replied, "It was a couple days ago or so, just before we set sail to here. They knew that your father had died, but Cutler Beckett just told everyone that your father had a stroke or something, it was just us and them when the incident occurred. He had some final words especially for you, Elizabeth, we remembered them...do you want to hear them now?"

Elizabeth was about to reply as they staggered out of the alley, the unconscious Will hefted by Murtogg and Mullroy, when suddenly they were surrounded by 10 soldiers and Norrington stepping forward from their midst, smiling.

Cotton's parrot squawked, "Peaceful men, no harm!"

Norrington rolled his eyes as he glanced over at Cotton and his parrot, both of whom were glaring, and he remarked, "That's laughable, you're a pirate if ever I saw one...one that ran astray of harsher punishment in the Indian Ocean. I must say, the talking parrot suits you."

Cotton puffed out his chest and stepped forward, hissing or grunting, but Gibbs grabbed his arm and pulled the old man back, muttering, "You're a fine fighting man, Cotton, but now is neither the time nor the place."

Norrington gasped and exclaimed, "Joshamee Gibbs! This is certainly a cabal of traitors, you were once a sailor under my own command and now you're a pirate! What about these other two soldiers, new recruits?"

Lieutenant Gillette nodded and whispered, "They're screw-ups, Mullroy and Murtogg, cowards...the sort of failures that retreat into piracy."

Gibbs frowned and yelled, "No pirate is a failure, if anything, the system failed us! I was court-martialed and left with nothing!"

Norrington growled and cried, "You were court-martialed for drunkenness on duty! A failure!"

Gibbs inhaled and told him, "I may have been a failure back then, but when I came to Tortuga, I was welcomed and was given...a form of comfort until I came into my own, until I realized that a pirate's life was for me. And I love it."

Norrington cleared his throat and adjusted the collar of his shirt as he murmured, "Well, be that as it may, the pirate life has done you no good...you're all going to be arrested. Lieutenant Gilette, you may step forward and unburden Mullroy and Murtogg of Mr. Will Turner and restrain him before he can become unconscious, to make things easier for us."

Gilette nodded and was about to step forward when suddenly, Elizabeth cried, "Stop! Commo-Admiral Norrington, you may disdain us for our lawless life, but look well to the company that you keep, for they have performed blacker deeds."

Norrington sighed and told her, "My dear Elizabeth, I do not know what you mean, but I still cannot be lenient with you, or your friends for that matter. I am sorry that your Will has done you wrong, bringing you into this mess and then failing to defend you now at your darkest hour. If you had been more prudent in the beginning, and had not fallen in love with a pirate, then perhaps we both would have had a happier fate...together. Yet it has come to this, Elizabeth, and I dread it."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and explained, "I do not ask for your mercy, Norrington, for I know you do not have enough of that. No, I ask you to release us because we are the only ones who know that true injustice has been done by Lord Beckett, the man that you serve in his evil ways."

Gilette frowned and unsheathed his sword, but Norrington held up his hand, staring at Elizabeth as he queried, "What do you mean? What did Beckett do?"

Elizabeth stepped forward toward Norrington, gulping as she stared at him and shakily responded, "He betrayed my father, Governor Weatherby Swann, the good man that you loyally served for so many years. When Beckett told you that my father had died from a stroke, did you not think to question the cause? To you, my father may have been weak in his ways, but he was as healthy as an ox and everyone knew that for certain, especially you. How could he have died so suddenly, without any visible strain or sickness in the days before?"

Gilette glanced away, sheathing his sword as Norrington cleared his throat and replied, "He...he was overworked a little, you had run off and there was so much to be done..."

Elizabeth shook her head and muttered, "Excuses, Norrington, that's all that you're babbling, excuses. My father was the one that championed your rise in the ranks, that advocated your policies, he was the one that allowed you to court me and then, when you became a commodore, gave you a sword...your sword, the one that even now is in your sheath. How much blood is on that sword this evening, doing the work that my father's murderer asked you to do?"

Norrington gaped at her, then lowered his head as he said, "Oh, Elizabeth...I cannot begin to make amends for this. I came to the Caribbean so many years ago, to find renown and honor by serving my country...but this, the place of paradise that brought me close to you, is so full of greed and rot that no man can escape it. We will not arrest any ally of Elizabeth, not tonight."

Elizabeth nodded and waved as her little group walked past the crowd of soldiers, both sides uncomfortable as they shifted away from each other, while they made their way out to the dock where they had left Raggeti and Pintel in the rowboat. However, the dock was also occupied by another small rowboat, occupied by a man in a large straw hat who was now talking across to the pair.

As the group walked down the dock toward these small boats, Pintel waved and cried, "Hello, fellows, look who's here!"

The man in the straw hat turned and Gibbs gasped as he exclaimed, "Anamaria!"

Anamaria smiled and said, "Hello, Gibbs, Elizabeth, Cotton! I wish we could have met again under better circumstances, but I've just lost my new ship in this invasion and most of my crew was arrested, probably to tattle under torture. Well, I'm aimless now, but I've been talking to this odd pair here for the last few minutes and they've told me a little about what's going on. So, my big sister and Barbossa is sailing with you all? To bring Jack back?"

Elizabeth blinked, surprised to hear that Tia Dalma was Anamaria's sister, especially considering Jack...but she nodded and asked, "Will you join us? We've also got these two new fellows, Mullroy and Murtogg, coming with us."

Anamaria thought for a minute, then nodded as she told her, "Yes, it's for the best that I should come, especially if it should be to my advantage. Here, I'll get into the other boat with Gibbs and Cotton, you and the soldiers and Will can take my boat. We better hurry if we want to reach that Chinese ship, dawn's coming soon."

The switch-off was made and the two little rowboats set off into the water, with the boat with Anamaria, Gibbs, Cotton and Pintel and Raggeti rowing in the lead, while the smaller boat with Elizabeth, the unconscious Will, and the two soldiers rowing in the rear. As they took their post at the oars, Mullroy and Murtogg managed to relate to Elizabeth the full circumstances of her father's death and told her his final words, word for word, a recitation that sounded like a strange, potent poem, supposedly from beyond the grave and from Natasha Swann.

Elizabeth listened in silence, staring out at the water and the burning flames of Tortuga and, bringing to mind the first lines of her father's prose, she murmured,

"Poor wandering spirit, 

Though thou hast surely strayed

In blood water..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original endnote: Favorite phrases: the argument between Murtogg and Mullroy was especially good, like the one from the beginning of CotBP, and I also like how I related Gibbs' history and how he just admitted that he loved the pirate life. I also prefer, of course, these last lines because they so aptly describe Norrington and what he has done in the past, but of course this isn't all of it-but that's for later again.
> 
> (And years later, I still like that bit of prose I created for Elizabeth Swann, which shall be fully revealed later, although I kind of stole parts of it from another piece of music in the public domain. *cough*Gilbert and Sullivan*cough*Pirates of Penzance*cough* Cause I really liked that 80s Kevin Kline version that, at the time, I had just seen for the first time in drama class.)


	6. Treacherous Waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of fluff, yet we are heading into treacherous waters here. Who will betray whom?

6\. Treacherous Waters

Captain Jack Sparrow, lying in the sand, mumbled to himself and rolled over, scratching at the sand as he tried to reach out...suddenly his eyes opened and he blinked, spitting out sand as he wondered what had wakened him up. He heard laughter and sat up, frowning to himself as he turned to glance behind him, to where Governor Weatherby Swann was standing, gazing up at Teague Sparrow and chuckling at their conversation.

Jack rolled his eyes and stood up, approaching them as he heard his father Teague tell Weatherby, "...soon after that, the parish teacher came to me house and at the time I was sober enough to understand what Jack had done wrong this time. It seems that me little boy had managed to trick another boy into giving him his lunch pail! Ah, I gave Jack a little wallop to look good for the teacher, but it was a clever little scheme for his age and, even then, I started wondering what might happen to him if he grew too big for our village. I had a feeling that if he became too confident in his cleverness, he might be an idiot, if ya know what I mean, guv'ner."

Jack groaned and yelled, "Bugger it, father! Keep your stories to yourself, Mr. Swann doesn't want to hear any of that!

Mr. Swann chuckled and then cleared his throat, shaking his head as he exclaimed, "Oh, Jack, there's no need to condemn your father! I liked his stories, quite pleasant in this grim place, and it made a lot of sense to me, in understanding you...especially that one about your first kiss."

Jack rubbed his forehead and muttered, "Please don't say another word, Mr. Swann, that story is neither here nor now, it's not the opportune time to bring up...such humiliating memories."

Weatherby Swann grinned and patted Jack on the back, who was startled by the friendliness, and explained, "Oh, they're not that humiliating, Jack. Actually, some of them even reminded me of a few stories of my daughter. There was this awful song that she used to sing a few years ago, when she was 12...she learned it at the docks, of all places! I don't even know how she wound up there in the first place, a young girl!"

Captain Jack Sparrow blinked and asked, "Was it the one with 'Drink up me hearties, yo-ho'?"

Mr. Swann slowly nodded, turning to stare at Jack as he murmured, "Yes, that's exactly the one, as I recall...how did you learn about it?"

Up above, Teague Sparrow sensed the tension and bellowed, "All right, me son Jack, let's try this again! What do you need?"

Jack breathed a sigh of relief, almost content with this endless, unanswered question as he stated, "First of all, you are implying that a need is not a want...therefore, a need comes from within and not from external forces, right?"

Teague shrugged and answered, "Right enough, I suppose. Now go on, what's your need, what's your right leverage?"

Jack inhaled and shook himself, stretching out his arms as he muttered, "I, Captain Jack Sparrow and none other, need...soap. Honestly."

Mr. Swann nodded and took a step back, but Teague groaned and yelled, "Quit messing around!"

Jack looked up and squinted as he shouted, "I need to be heard! I need to be heeded, I need to be obeyed, I need to be understood, I need...to be a captain! That's not an external force, that comes truly from within!"

Teague slumped up against the rail, banging his head slightly as he cried, "No, for none of that, you're thinking about this the wrong way! It is a need for ya, Jack, yes, but ye already have it! Maybe I'm phrasing this wrong...what do ya need that's missing, missing from your life, maybe something ye once had or maybe something ye never had? Can ya think of anything?"

Jack cleared his throat and murmured, "You're going to have to get back to me on that, father, I...I have to think this through."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sun was starting to rise now, but Captain Sao Feng had his telescope focused out across the water, to where two rowboats were approaching, and he was willing to wait a few more minutes for the stragglers. Nearby, Marty was standing on tiptoe to gaze out over the rail while Captain Barbossa and Tia Dalma stood next to him. Barbossa was leaning forward in a relaxed position, with Jack the monkey on his shoulder, while Dalma stood tall and straight, her hand shading her eyes as she stared out.

Barbossa turned his head and muttered, "Relax, Tia Dalma, they're coming back and then we can get on our way again, all the way to World's End. We've had a rough start, certainly, but the tide and the winds will be with us when we leave with our companions returned...we can outrun any more trouble and be there in time to save Jack, just like you want."

Jack the monkey chattered and glanced up at Barbossa while Dalma sighed and lectured, "Ah, can things be so simple in the Caribbean? I cannot say for certain, but I fear there may be more troubles ahead of us...there's something in the air, I sense, some fury bent upon us. That can disturb us, yes, but there's something else going on...I don't know where it comes from, or from whom, but I fear that the waters between here and World's End are about to become more treacherous."

Captain Barbossa shifted and said nothing, scratching Jack the monkey under the chin while nearby, Captain Sao Feng chatted in Cantonese with another sailor, who had just come forward from the stern with a few of his fellow sailors following close behind. This sailor, and the one standing next to him, both had a wet oar tucked under their arms, and finally the captain nodded and waved these men away. At that moment, the two rowboats reached the bow of the Chinese warship and ropes were dropped down, to be tied onto the boats so that they could be hoisted up. A few minutes later, the stragglers stepped onto the deck, Mullroy, Murtogg, and Anamaria glancing around in awe while Will rubbed the back of his head, wincing, he had regained consciousness just as the boat was being hoisted out of the water. Elizabeth stood beside him, patting him on the back as she sighed, wishing that he could hug her or kiss her or say something...but he was still out of it and he knew, sensed nothing of her grief. Gibbs, Cotton, Pintel and Ragetti were chatting with Marty and Barbossa while Anamaria and Tia Dalma finally spotted each other in the crowd and slowly approached each other.

Anamaria halted and murmured, "Dalma."

Tia Dalma nodded and murmured, "Little Anamaria."

Anamaria frowned and muttered, "I'm not little."

Dalma nodded and said, "I know...you're older, but still just as reckless, just as stubborn in your ways."

Anamaria tilted her chin and told her, "Maybe, maybe I've grown too unreliable as a pirate, too wild, but you...I don't like your work, you know. What did you do to Jack and now what are you doing with Barbossa, that traitor?"

Tia Dalma sighed and murmured, "Anamaria...I apologize for what happened with Jack, but we both moved on from each other, in our own ways. Anything we had, then, wasn't worth the sacrifice of my relationship with you, dear sister. As for Barbossa, he's changed in his ways, I gave him a new chance at life and now he's going to help us bring Jack back."

Anamaria shook her head and sighed as she whispered, "I'm afraid it might be too late, Dalma...for your apology, for Barbossa to change, for Jack to return."

Tia Dalma stared at Anamaria, but could think of nothing to say, while nearby, Captain Barbossa frowned at Mullroy and Murtogg, who were quelled at the sight of him.

Barbossa crossed his arms and queried, "You two soldiers want to be pirates? Truly and without an ounce of hesitation, without fear of what it would mean to swear into such a lawless life, without a likely chance of reward and with a likely chance of capture?"

Mullroy and Murtogg glanced at each other, then they slowly turned to face Captain Barbossa as they both murmured, "Yes, sir."

Barbossa grunted and glared at them as he muttered, "Pintel, Ragetti, you two will be in charge of training these fine men. Make sure they learn what it really means to be a pirate."

Barbossa turned aside and strode away while Pintel stepped forward, frowning at Mullroy, who staggered back slightly, while Murtogg tried not to stare at Ragetti's wooden eye.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was hours later with the afternoon well advanced when two ships entered the harbor and Admiral Norrington hurried over to the docks, trying to adjust his wig as he grimaced, wishing that he had been given more warning, more time to sleep possibly. One was the head ship of the East India Company, The Spear, commanded by Lord Beckett and Commodore Smith while the other was The Flying Dutchmen, the latter causing Norrington to shiver. As the two ships docked on either side of a pier, Norrington strode down its length, accompanied by Lieutenant Gilette, trying to maintain an imposing figure while restraining the echo of Elizabeth's words in his mind.

He paused near the end and bowed to The Spear as Lord Cutler Beckett marched down its gangplank, glancing towards Tortuga as he muttered, "Well, my good fellow, it looks like you gave that place a thorough thrashing, congratulations. So tell me, did you capture many pirates?"

Norrington slowly nodded and replied, "Quite a few, some have already sworn to give up piracy, though others still resist. Naturally, some wouldn't surrender and, despite our best efforts, a few small boats did slip out. We're not entirely familiar with the terrain of the island, its currents, or its waterways, despite our old records."

Lord Beckett sighed and queried, "What about the former crew of Captain Jack Sparrow, was there any sign of them?"

Norrington cleared his throat and responded, "You understand, the likelihood of them being here in the first place was slim and..."

From behind Norrington, he heard a slithering voice, pained yet powerful, yell out, "There's a lie to that if ever I heard one!"

Norrington turned around and gulped, staring at the hideous face of Davy Jones standing at the rail of his ship, the tentacles slightly drooping and the face drawn tightly while his crew huddled behind him, nervously gazing at The Spear and Lord Beckett.

Beckett nodded and smiled, turning his head slightly to glance at Commodore Smith, standing a good distance away and holding Davy's heart high, before the lord glanced back to Norrington to ask, "Did you meet them?"

Norrington sighed and answered, "My informant told me about their arrival and so I trapped them, just a few of their number, but Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann were among them, yet...I let them go."

Lord Beckett shook his head and murmured, "Ah, Norrington, you got too sentimental...we will now have to go through the trouble of tracking them. Did your informant give you any hint about where they were going?"

Norrington replied, "Not much of a hint, probably as a precaution or perhaps even because of ignorance, but there will be a beacon on their ship, the informant promised that much, an unusual one that will be visible for miles around."

Beckett grinned and whispered, "Excellent, we have that much in our favor. Norrington, you are hereby stripped of your admiralty, I will allow you to be the commodore still of The Dauntless, but now Smith will be Admiral...The Spear and The Flying Dutchmen will be traveling with you from now on in your armada. Will many of the ships have to be left behind?"

Norrington nodded and told him, "Quite a few of the original 10, possibly 6 to secure Tortuga as a base and to patrol the surrounding islands, but 6 will be more than enough to go after Will and the rest...unless Admiral Smith disagrees?"

Admiral Smith shook his head, lowering Davy's heart as Davy Jones winced and muttered, "No, Lord Beckett, there are no qualms from my ship either."

Lord Beckett waved at Davy and motioned for Norrington and Lieutenant Gilette to step abroad The Spear and the two men slowly walked up the gangplank as Norrington paused, to glance back at The Flying Dutchman. Davy Jones and his crew, all forlorn souls, stared across at him as Norrington shuddered, imaging what it must feel like for Davy...he was the sea, untamed and merciless without his heart, yet the power had been too formidable in that vessel. With Beckett in possession of that heart, the Sea Titan known as Davy was bound, unable to shake loose from that control tearing away at his existence, crushing his spirit. Even though Davy's crew were his prisoners, they empathized with their captain now as he did with their situation...all of the beings of The Flying Dutchman were now truly cursed and Norrington knew that he didn't such damnation to be his fate either. Commodore Norrington, his hand now resting at the hilt of the sword given to him by Governor Swann, turned and strode up the gangplank, resolved to wait for the opportune moment.


	7. A Duel and Liar's Dice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A duel is started and Davy Jones plays at Liar's Dice once more, only with different consequences...

7\. A Duel and Liar's Dice

Around that time, Elizabeth grew restless and woke up, mumbling to herself as she rubbed her eyes, carefully shifting in her hammock as she glanced down at Will, who was soundly sleeping beneath her, though he was frowning. She sighed, wondering what sort of nightmares were bothering him...so much had grown wrong in his life when he was so young and now, years later, she certainly wasn't helping matters, worrying him with her unsettled nature. Elizabeth carefully leapt down, landing with a soft tread so as not to disturb Will, glancing down at him again as she guiltily thought that he looked too innocent, especially with the dim echo of the poem from her dying father, those powerful words, in her mind. She looked away and walked up the aisle, passing by more of her sleeping companions as she stepped out into a below-decks hallway, following the length of the hull with the quarters for the captain, the other Chinese sailors, and the holding bays of the cannons. There was also a ladder close by, leading down to another deck where they probably had long oars propped and ready, should the wind fade, but instead she headed up to the deck at the bow entrance, blinking in the bright sunlight as she glanced around.

Nearby, Mullroy and Murtogg were sitting on some crates, listening intently as Pintel told them, "Now, you've got to understand that the Pirate Code isn't quite so strict as naval codes, it's more like...what's the word?"

Ragetti raised his hand and replied, "Guidelines, uncle, that's what it is. Oh, and another word you should know...it's a French one or something."

Pintel growled and yelled, "Don't mention parley to them!"

Murtogg glanced back and forth between them and asked, "Wait a minute here...Pintel, are you really Ragetti's uncle?"

Pintel slowly nodded and answered, "That I am, my poor sister...she was wild, wouldn't stay at home or mind our parents. Got into trouble, you know, and Ragetti was born...with an eye missing, unfortunately. I've been minding him for many years now, at home and out here in the Caribbean."

Mullroy sighed and murmured, "That's a decent thing, you two sticking together for so long, we just figured you were just old buddies. Now me and Murtogg here, we met back in basic training, and I always thought of myself as a big brother to this fellow here."

Elizabeth smiled to herself as the 4 fellows went back to their pirate lesson; it would certainly suit them if they became friends. She turned her head and blinked, surprised to see Tia Dalma walking over to her, motioning her to sit down at another bunch of crates gathered a short distance away from everyone else. Elizabeth slowly nodded, slowly walking over to Dalma since she couldn't avoid her and so the two women sat down on the crates, stiff as they stared at each other, uncertain who would speak first.

Tia Dalma cleared her throat and said, "Elizabeth, those soldiers told me about what happened to your father, I'm so sorry. They told me that there were some words...I thought it decent to ask you personally about their nature."

Elizabeth inhaled deeply and told Dalma about last night and then about the words, reciting a few lines until Dalma raised her hand and murmured, "That's enough, Elizabeth. They're too powerful and it's best to be cautious, to let the spell be unsaid until it's time."

Elizabeth groaned and told her, "Well, in any case, they pertain to a personal nature and I'm worried whether...whether or not I can say them. When it's time. I mean, if I do say them, do...do I have to mean it, every single word?"

Tia Dalma slowly nodded and replied, "Yes, you do have to mean every word...this is not to be taken lightly, so many lives hang in the balance. The poem must either be said or not said, and whatever shall come of the choice shall come. You do not have to feel obliged to speak, Elizabeth, your soul must be true with feeling or else the power can go awry."

Elizabeth turned her head, gazing out across the water...she could not think, she wished that she had Jack's compass to guide her to a choice. Her thoughts were interrupted then, however, as she heard Captain Barbossa and Captain Sao Feng arguing...all in Cantonese.

Elizabeth wiped her eyes and cleared her throat, muttering, "Barbossa knows how to speak Cantonese? What other surprises lurk within him?"

Tia Dalma sighed and muttered, "That is a thing to wonder, perhaps a dark wonder in the end."

In any case, Captain Barbossa and Captain Sao Feng appeared to be arguing, both with one hand each resting on the wheel as Barbossa gestured east just as Sao shook his head and started to turn the wheel in the other direction, west. At that point, Barbossa growled and unsheathed his sword as he harshly muttered something in Cantonese, an insult. Sao shook his head and unsheathed his own sword as the Chinese sailors and a few members of the Caribbean pirates stepped forward, grouping around the duelers as Jack the monkey shrieked, clapping his hands.

Sao Feng shook his head and called, "You know you won't win, Barbossa!"

Captain Barbossa grinned and shouted, "Ah, this isn't serious, Sao, I know it would be too complicated. Tell you want, the man who nicks the other first will be the one to decide our direction."

Captain Sao nodded and yelled, "You're on!"

The two pirate captains commenced their duel, their crews urging them on while Pintel lectured to Mullroy and Murtogg, pointing out the anything-goes style of pirate dueling. Barbossa was all bravado in his attack, heavy slashing and force, while Sao Feng was smooth in defense, dodging and side-stepping as he attempted to pierce a beep in the wall. Suddenly, Sao slid in a puddle and he cried out as Barbossa slashed out and the Caribbean crew gasped in horror...the heavy stroke tore into Sao's side, life-blood was spilling.

Sao Feng staggered, managing to steady his stance as he blinked, glancing down at his side as he remarked, "Ah, shame. It's always hardest when it comes to the chest area."

The Chinese sailors nodded, chatting with each other as Elizabeth cried, "How can you be so calm? Somebody, get some bandages!"

Ragetti was about to run off to do so, but Sao Feng raised his hand and told them, "There is no need for concern, lady Elizabeth. In fact, it is the perfect chance for me to demonstrate...our blessing."

With that, Sao Feng placed his hand against his side and murmured, chanting as he rubbed the wound, the blood halting in its flow while flesh formed, sealing the wound as Sao grimaced, finally sighing when the process was completed.

Elizabeth and the other pirates had gaped at the sight, though Barbossa had just watched the demonstration indifferently, being familiar with Sao's ways, while Tia Dalma nodded and commented, "Ah, that is very useful. Did you receive that blessing before you left China?"

Sao Feng smiled and replied, "Yes, my sailors and I received this blessing from a venerable old woman, who practiced her art at the harbor of Hong Kong. All of our wounds can regenerate, even in the heat of battle, and so we are very hard to defeat, nearly invincible. Of course, it's certainly not as powerful as the...curse that once possessed Barbossa and his old crew. Blessings and curses, in their way, are actually hard to discern...I was cursed to be born in poverty, to be ruled by a dynasty unkind to the general empire. Yet from that, I was blessed with the urge to leave, to come here to the Caribbean...here, I am blessed in my endeavors, in my business dealings of great profit. My friends, I have been blessed as well to meet such fine people as you all...I am sure we shall enjoy smooth sailing to World's End. Barbossa, you may take the wheel, and we'll head...east."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Miles behind them, Greenbeard pointed and said, "The residue from the informant's beacon is very distinct, they're turning that way."

Davy Jones, standing beside Koleniko at the wheel, slowly nodded and Koleniko turned the wheel as Palifico turned to glance at his captain, slightly concerned about Davy's tense silence. Still, Davy turned away and strode off toward the stern as Palifico shrugged and return to his boastful conversation with Maccus and Ogilvey. The Twins, mopping the deck, glanced up as the captain passed by them, but then they quickly averted their eyes and returned to their task since Jimmylegs was overseeing them, toying with his whip. Wheelback, sitting on the steps leading below-decks, rocked slightly as he babbled, ignored by Quittance, Clanker, Penrod and Hadras as they played Liar's Dice, so absorbed in the game that they didn't hear the approach of Davy Jones. In fact, the only warning they had was that Wheelback suddenly quieted and they paused, stopping the shaking of their cans as they carefully placed the cans and dice on the table before turning around.

Davy Jones stood over them, gazing down as he asked, "Mind if I join a game?"

The crewmembers shook their heads and Clanker stepped out of the game, allowing Davy Jones to take his spot. With this new player, they started shaking their dice again before slamming them down, glancing at each other, but Davy didn't seem serious.

As the fellows started to call out numbers, Davy glanced out towards the ocean, to see the sunset approaching in its glory. He couldn't begin to describe the feeling it stirred in him, the fire of the sun dipping down into the water, quenching the flames to the tranquility of twilight and the moon.

Davy Jones sighed and muttered, "Two sixes."

Suddenly, Hadras frowned and lifted his head, staring at Davy as he murmured, "Liar."

The crewmembers froze, their tongues stuck as Davy turned, gazing at Hadras as he queried, "What are you willing to bet on that?"

Hadras rubbed his conch-head before he finally responded, "All of the years left on my sentence...about 80 years, I believe."

Davy Jones nodded and said, "You're on."

The dice were revealed...and Davy was the liar. Hadras grinned and closed his eyes as he faded, water dripping off of him as he turned into slush. Quittance and Penrod gaped at the mess, the empty space, while Clanker rushed forward to claim the space. A new game began, the dice stirred and then stilled, the unnatural crew staring at each other with a sneer.

Davy chuckled and yelled, "Four threes!"

Penrod jumped up and cried, "Liar! And I bet all of my years left, 60 in all!"

Such proved to be the case and as Penrod faded, Davy Jones closed his eyes and sighed, wishing that he could go just like that, to a peace, to an abyss. For he now knew how they felt, to be trapped like them with his heart clenched so tightly, but he could give them their release now even if he couldn't have it in turn. Quittance and Clanker soon followed suit, as did the Twins running away from the whip of Jimmylegs, who hesitated when he witnessed the scene.

Davy Jones gestured and told him, "Please, Jimmylegs, sit down and let's play a nice game. Do you want some peace?"

Jimmylegs stared down at his whip...and then laid it aside, sitting down at the table as Davy murmured, "Grand."

After that, Wheelback came forward, rational enough now so that he was able to say "Liar", but surprisingly it was even harder to convince Palifico, Maccus, and Ogilvey to play. Still, even they were weary of fighting and so they sat down while Greenbeard and Koleniko, after making sure that The Flying Dutchman would remain on course, started trudging forward.

Of course, it was hard to make progress when the deck was drenched with water and ancient flotsam, and when they sat down, Koleniko couldn't help asking, "What about Beckett? What do you think he'll do to your heart, when he finds that you've surrendered your crew?"

Davy shook his head and answered, "Never mind that, I'll take care of that business. You won't have to worry about that, wherever you're going."

Once they were gone, the sun had finally set by then and Davy Jones sat back, sighing softly as he thought that he was all alone...suddenly he froze, blinking as he shook his head, his tentacles wobbling. He stood up and tried to recall where the lantern was belowdecks and once he remembered that, he strode off, walking down the stairs that Wheelback had been sitting on before. Davy soon reached the below-deck corridor, barnacled by Wyvern, who was even now talking to Bootstrap Bill until they heard Davy's approach.

As they lapsed into silence, Davy bellowed, "Come on, get up there! Let's play a good old game of Liar's Dice!"

Bootstrap Bill shook his head, sighing as he told him, "I would if I could, I know what you've been doing these last few hours...but I lost my last game to you. I'm stuck with you for eternity, for no game of Liar's Dice can take away the years of eternity. As for Wyvern, he certainly can't play, he's an integral part of the ship, how can he even hold or shake the dice?"

Davy Jones lowered his head and whispered, "Ah...sorry. That's all I can say. Go on with your business, or whatever you want, I'll...I'll be in my quarters, I suppose. The only beauty left to my existence, or whatever you call this, is my music...go out into the fresh air, Bill. It's a fine evening, one that I would have enjoyed if I had my heart inside me."


	8. A Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Jack Sparrow welcomes the crew of the Flying Dutchmen, and the others arrive back at a familiar place...

8\. A Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven

Weatherby Swann bent down and shook Jack as he murmured, "Come on, fellow, wake up. You've been asleep for too long...I hope it's not getting worse."

Captain Jack Sparrow grumbled as he sat up and told him, "Bugger, you may be right, Swann. I was back on that beach and my fever...my hunger, my thirst. I grabbed my effects and managed to crawl up the beach, toward a rocky area, but there was some sort of grass there...I ate some before I fell back into my fever, to this desert. With luck, that grass might keep me alive for awhile longer. Say, what if all I needed was a nice cup of tea? That would suit you fellows, would it not?"

From above, Teague Sparrow yelled, "It's not tea you need, Jack!"

Jack nodded and shouted, "Of course it's not tea, it's never tea, no one really needs tea! Yet tea's doomed people to slavery in other regions and has made the East India Company a force to be reckoned with, why should we contend with all of that when we could just dump tea for good? It's too addictive."

Governor Swann rubbed his forehead and murmured, "While we're at it, why does the world need rum? The same argument could apply for rum as it does for tea."

Jack growled and bellowed, "Don't you dare touch rum! I may not need it, but I still enjoy it!"

Suddenly, Teague cried out, "Stop your bellyaching, me son! There's more fellows coming our way right now and they look like proper sailors!"

Jack blinked and muttered, "Oh...more men. What is it about this place? We can't even board ship yet, but fellows are coming for jobs, it's a mess."

Mr. Swann shrugged and remarked, "I don't know, it's just the 3 of us with your father and if we were to leave World's End on your ship, we would need more men. These sailors have already passed on and...and perhaps they still want to be useful or so. Well, here they are. Hello! Um...welcome, welcome, you all can just sit down and rest a bit, I'm sure you're all a little...staggered by your deaths. Does anyone want...to say anything?"

The 14 men, of various appearances and fashions with one small man, had already seated themselves on the sand, gathered in a circle around Governor Swann and Jack while above, Teague was leaning over the rail to get a good view of this gathering. With Swann's last words, one of the fellows stood up, a Chinese sailor dressed in a style slightly different from Sao, and took a stance, staring at Jack while the Caribbean pirate shifted, uncertain of this stranger.

At last, the Chinese sailor said, "Well, I certainly never expected to see you here...though perhaps it's suitable. Then again, neither I nor the others know where here exactly is and there was only your ship for a landmark, so we came, we hold no personal grudge against you, but we want to know what scheme you're doing now, Jack Sparrow."

Jack cleared his throat and asked, "Do...I know you?"

The Chinese sailor smiled and exclaimed, "You don't recognize me! Probably because I'm fully human again! It's strange, how we returned to our original forms when we arrived...here, I'll give you a hint to my identity."

The Chinese sailor staggered about, his whole body moving but his head stationary as he sort of shouted, "Left! Right! No, body, your head's over here!"

Jack gasped and roared, "Isla Cruces! You had a conch shell for a head and it fell off! You were one of Davy Jones's crew! Oh my...these others, they're a part of Davy's crew? Why are you all here and...what about Bootstrap?"

In turns, the former crewmembers of The Flying Dutchmen told about the events of twilight and the games of Liar's Dice that released them as Palifico said, "He allowed us to see that he was a liar. He lost all of the games so that we could be released, one by one, to this afterlife. It isn't what we expected, to tell the truth."

Jimmylegs nodded and explained, "Now, we're all here, except for Bootstrap Bill and another mate, Wyvern, because they couldn't win or play. You see, your friend Will probably told you that his father Bill lost a game in which he had stakes that he would serve Davy Jones for all of eternity. Nothing can remove that bet, not even winning another game, and so Bill's stuck...the same sort of goes to Wyvern, he's served the longest of us all and he's become nothing more than barnacles and coral, unable to loosen himself from the ship."

Governor Weatherby Swann shook his head and yelled, "Damn, that's dreadful! Davy Jones is an evil sort, to doom you all to such misery!"

Maccus jumped to his feet and said, "Oh, it's not that he's evil, not exactly! Guv'ner, you must understand, we alone made the choice and were trapped...so afraid of dying, not even aware of the consequences, we swore to join his crew! It's our own faults that we had such misery, although I'll admit that we should never have been offered the chance to choose in the first place. Yet Davy's just as trapped as we were, he didn't know the consequences when he cut out his heart, so afraid of heartache at the refusal of Calypso, he cursed himself into cursing others as well! He finally figured that out, I suppose, when Beckett stole his heart and he felt pain, perhaps for the first time in centuries. He opened the doors of our cages then and gave us our souls back, simply because he couldn't release himself from his own with the key being his heart."

Jack slowly nodded, silent for a moment before he queried, "Gentlemen, Mr. Swann...have any of you read Milton? Paradise Lost?"

Governor Weatherby Swann blinked and responded, "Oh, that? No, certainly not, Paradise Lost is condemned in England. I certainly couldn't read it and besides, I heard that it was vulgar...Satan and what not."

Jack nodded and informed him, "Several years ago, I procured a copy of the combined books of Paradise Lost and I still remember it...the way you talk of Davy reminds of how Milton described Satan, so fallen from grace and trapped by his own nature. Plus, Hell wasn't all fire in that Book I...it was 'regions of sorrow, doleful shades' and...those trapped there were plagued not just with flame, but with the memory of 'lost happiness'. This World's End, perhaps, is our Hell, but there was a speech that Milton wrote in which Satan said 'The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.' Here's my ship and if I can figure out what I need in time, so that we can depart for battle...perhaps we can have our own heaven, at the end of it all. Will the rest of you be my crew now? Something has brought you here, there's no denying, and I don't think any of you want to linger in this desert."

Wheelback glanced at his fellows and they nodded, so he turned to face Captain Jack Sparrow and replied, "Aye, we'll join your crew, Jack, and fight your battle, I even suppose that some of us would like to fight again. Just so long as you plan to take on Cutler Beckett, if we make it out of here, and leave Davy alone. You know, talk is that when we left Tortuga, still burning after the attack of the East India Company...we were tracking another ship, one with your friends on it. I think they're coming for you."

Jack blinked and opened his mouth, shocked that they would dare so much for him, that they would face the might of the East India Company in pursuit, just to bring him back...they were all coming, even Elizabeth. Governor Weatherby Swann gasped as well, frightened for his daughter, but he tried to assure himself that she would be safe, with the company of those loyal soldiers and her Will.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

It was getting dark as The Empress sailed into the bay, the ship already scrapping the sandy depths as the Chinese sailors and the Caribbean pirates all came up on deck to squint out into the twilight, trying to distinguish the form of the island that they were approaching. Captain Hector Barbossa and Captain Sao Feng were standing off to one side, softly whispering to each other as Sao scoffed and strode off, shoving past Will Turner, who staggered a little as he frowned at the Chinese pirate.

Will turned and stared out at the island as he murmured, "I don't think this is it at all...this isn't World's End."

Elizabeth, standing beside him, slowly nodded as she whispered, "You're right about that...but whatever instruments or intuition that both Barbossa and Sao Feng used, it has led them straight here. This place, though we've been here before, is on the route to World's End...perhaps that's suitable, considering how it has been used before."

Will blinked and glanced at Elizabeth as he queried, "What do you mean we've been here before, how can you even tell? It's too dark to see the island well, all I can see are the shades of trees and whatever, there's nothing remarkable."

Elizabeth shook her head and pointed, off towards a strip of the beach as she responded, "I can tell. Do you recognize that area, over there? We were here not too long ago, standing on that sandbar, though you might not have been able to memorize the landmarks, with you and Jack and Norrington so distracted over your little fight."

Will gasped and shouted, "This is Isla Cruces!"

Meanwhile, Tia Dalma, who had been standing at the back of the crowd since she was indifferent to their beaching, suddenly stiffened at the island's name and rushed forward, pushing men aside as she took her place at the rail, inhaling deeply as she gazed out on Isla Cruces.

Dalma turned to Anamaria, who was staring at her elder sister like she was mad, and asked, "Baby sister, do you not recognize this place?"

Anamaria shrugged and glanced down at her feet as she answered, "I can't remember ever having come here or hearing of it, for that matter."

Dalma frowned, then stomped off towards Hector Barbossa as she told him, "Barbossa, we must spend the night here at Isla Cruces, perhaps even longer."

Captain Barbossa grunted and muttered, "I don't think it's possible, Tia Dalma, Sao Feng may not stand for it if he fears that the East India Company is pursuing us. Besides, it will be a waste of time."

Tia Dalma shook her head and explained, "It will not be a waste of time, however long we linger here at Isla Cruces, for it will be crucial to our understandin'. The other members of your crew know this place, I sent them here to get the heart of Davy Jones, who also knew this island well when there were people here. Yet they've all gone, nothing left but ruins, for this island...it is a special place, one of conflict and pain, a place where the hearts and souls of people are tested. Will and Elizabeth, Jack as well, they fought amongst themselves and inside themselves here as well, questioning their natures even as they ran about the whole island. As for Davy Jones...this used to be his home, this island, it was where he met Calypso. Tell that to Sao Feng and I'm sure he will let us stop here for however long it takes to get an understandin', and our bearin's."

Barbossa arched his eyebrows, but he slowly nodded and walked over to Sao Feng, whispering to him, while Dalma turned to glance over at Will and Elizabeth, both gazing out from the rail. As Will lifted up his hand behind her, reaching out toward her back and her shoulders to rub them, he hesitated and, finally, dropped his hand. Elizabeth had already told him how Murtogg and Mullroy had joined their crew, along with Anamaria, bringing news of her father's death, but Dalma could guess that she had mentioned nothing to him of her father's dying poem. Perhaps Will, sensing her grief, knew to give her some space even though he wanted to comfort her, or perhaps it was something else...Tia Dalma sighed, she was reading too much into all of this in her agitation at coming back to Isla Cruces.

Nearby, Cotton's parrot squawked, "Still as the locker."

Gibbs shuddered and glanced over at Cotton, who was trembling slightly, and said, "Aye, old man, you're right about that. I hate Isla Cruces, it brought us and Jack too much trouble last time."

Marty nodded as Murtogg muttered, "This place gives me the creeps, it's haunted, even that Tia Dalma doesn't like it."

Mullroy rolled his eyes and exclaimed, "Nonsense, that's all you're saying! This is just an island like any other in the Caribbean! There's no need to worry about anything unnatural here, especially when we're looking out for each other!"

Murtogg shook his head and cried, "You're wrong about this, just like you were wrong about there being no Black Pearl! We've seen those two and their old friends, skeletons in moonlight, from the Black Pearl and what about that other island, Isla Muerte? That wasn't like any other island, and the same goes for this one as one!"

Ragetti chuckled and inquired, "Did you really think that the Pearl didn't exist?"

Mullroy cleared his throat as Pintel lectured, "Enough of this, we don't need any arguments right now, we're already in dire straits without all of us turning on each other. We're probably going to anchor out here and then go on shore in the morning, once we've had a proper rest. Once we're on shore...then we'll see what sort of a place this is, natural or not, and learn why we're here in the first place."


	9. What Was Lost on Isla Cruces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tia Dalma shares a story of Calypso and Davy Jones...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My old disclaimer for this story: 'Ahem, Tale as old as time...song as old as rhyme...barely even friends, them somebody bends, unexpectedly...unfortunately, that will not be Disney today. Sorry, I do not own these characters. Roar!'

9\. What Was Lost on Isla Cruces

In the twilight before dawn, the crew left The Empress and beached on the shore of Isla Cruces, pushing and dragging their boats up the beach to avoid the tide before they paused to rest, panting slightly as they gazed at the trees.

Captain Barbossa shook his head and told them, "It's a mess in there, so stay close together and follow the others in front of you, Tia Dalma will be taking the lead since she seems to know this island well."

Dalma nodded and they set out, heading into the tropical bush as they meandered around trees, cutting through vines and slogging their way with the humidity pressing down on them. Pintel and Ragetti, walking and talking, alongside Mullroy and Murtogg, listening, were at the back of the line when suddenly, Pintel looked up and there wasn't a sign of anyone, everyone ahead of them seemed to have faded. Pintel cried out and the rest of the foursome stumbled to a halt, scanning all around, but it was too still, there wasn't any sign of movement to indicate where they had gone.

Mullroy, breathing heavily, shook his head as he whispered, "I don't believe this, it can't be happening...the island can't be messing with us."

The others shrugged helplessly and, at random, they set off together, but then they got separated from each other...Pintel and Mullroy found themselves alone together while Ragetti and Murtogg wandered aimlessly, both seeking guidance that couldn't be given now.

Meanwhile, as they walked along with the rest of the main party, Will wiped off the sweat from his forehead and muttered, "We should have left bread crumbs like Hansel and Gretel."

Elizabeth shook her head and asked, "Will, why do you always imagine everything to be like a fairy tale?"

Will rolled his eyes and answered, "I don't really imagine everything, but in the last year or so, there's been just so much...supernatural occurrences that go beyond normal. Yet this is not a fairy tale, it's too...painful for that, but of all people, we're being led by...by a witch, for lack of a better term, possibly to something like a gingerbread house. It's unnatural."

Elizabeth grinned and murmured, "Welcome to the Caribbean, my love...blessings and curses, beauty and upheaval, Sao Feng got all that right. All right, I know you don't really think of it like a fairy tale, but it's the easiest term for how you think...of us. Of us, Will, you the hero and me the damsel."

Will groaned and told her, "Please, let's not go into all of that again, not now on this strange island...you're already in enough pain, after everything that's happened to us and to you, let's not scratch our wounds."

Elizabeth sighed and explained, "I know that now is not the opportune moment for this discussion, Will, but we've got to get it settled as soon as possible. We have to scratch this wound, no matter how much it hurts, because if we don't, it might fester so much that the infection would poison both our hearts and souls beyond repair. Besides, even with my grief...I'm strong enough for it. I'm a pirate, Will, I must learn how to deal with pain and grief and continue on to do whatever's necessary. Are you strong enough, Will?"

Will glanced away as Tia Dalma cried, "We're here! Careful of the graves, try to be respectful to the dead, for we all must meet them eventually!"

The pirates shuddered and with that warning, they carefully stepped through the graveyard, heading toward the ruins of the church as the sun started to rise. Sao Feng rubbed his forehead as he tried not to look at any of the graves, yet such was impossible, and so he raised his head and gazed up at the sky, mumbling in Cantonese, but then he cried out when he nearly fell into a gaping hole.

However, Barbossa caught him and exclaimed, "Careful, Sao! You should be more watchful of yourself, you could have caused harm...uh, if you weren't blessed."

Sao Feng shook his head and shouted, "Ah, Hector Barbossa, I have been watchful of myself and only of myself! I did stray, to make sure that I would stay blessed in the waters of the Caribbean, but now I see the harm I have caused!"

Barbossa stared at Captain Feng, but said nothing as Cotton's parrot said, "Four gone! Four wander!"

The group, hearing the news from Cotton's parrot, quickly glanced around to see who was missing, but it was Gibbs who cried, "Pintel and Ragetti! Mullroy and Murtogg! They're lost out there on this island, cursed with nothing but bad luck! It's all my fault, I can never do anything right because I'm cursed as a failure, especially when people trust me...Jack trusted me and now he's cursed in World's End! I am the bad luck, it's because of me that Norrington found us back at Tortuga and he was right about me!"

Anamaria rushed over and patted Gibbs on the back as she exclaimed, "Joshamee Gibbs, my old friend, don't say such things about yourself! You're not cursed and you shouldn't believe such things, for you're a good man and not a failure. You're one of the best pirates that I have ever seen, a loyal, responsible first mate, even if you won't acknowledge or believe how others hold you in high regard. Jack believed in you, as you should believe in yourself, and not in any sort of luck at all. Tia Dalma, speak to him, tell him what sort of man he is."

Tia Dalma nodded and said, "My baby sister is right, Mr. Gibbs, that you must trust your own abilities...yet it is odd that she speaks in such a manner, when she also doesn't trust her abilities or believe in herself."

Anamaria growled and strode over toward her as she yelled, "I am not like you, Dalma, I am not a witch that abuses her power!"

Dalma frowned and lifted her hand, but then gasped and lowered it, shocked at what strong magic she had considered unleashing against Anamaria for her harsh words, but she said, "That may be true. However, there is power in you as you are my sister of Calypso's blood, though you never originated from Davy Jones as I did."

The pirates gasped, staring back and forth between Dalma and Anamaria, the latter frozen as she murmured, "No…that can't be true. Dalma, how can that be possible, they are immortal and…oh, we're not important, not to the rest of the world."

Tia Dalma turned and gestured to the church as she explained, "You see that church? When I was young and playing amidst the weeds that were starting to grow on this island, while you were still crawling around, our mother pointed out that church to me. She told me that when she first stepped foot on this island, from beneath the waves, she had been following the sound of its bells. She said that soon after she came, she was standing in front of the church again and a man collided with her, a Scottish colonist of this island...they fell in love, her and Davy Jones. They were going to get married in that church, she told me, with the bells ringing."

The crew gazed up at the old, crumbly tower of the church, so forlorn these many years later with the absence of its bells, the very heart of it, as Dalma continued, "Yet Davy Jones, he knew who she was. For when they consorted on land and even beneath the waves, with his breath maintained by our mother as she sang a lullaby to him, he was daunted by her power. He feared this love, tranquil now, but what if the gentle passion turned into a wave, a hurricane that swept him down into the depths with misery and pain? One day, Calypso came into his house, to tell him that they should wed soon as she was with child, but to her grief she discovered that he had plunged a knife into his chest, in the act of cutting his heart out. The damage had already been done, he was dying and his heart was almost out, and so the only thing she could do was still the passage of death as she cut his heart out, using her power to ensure that it wouldn't be needed to maintain his life. However, Davy Jones was still in pain and, realizing that it was the anguish of being on such sorrowful land, she carried him to the tide. Calypso made him a ship, The Flying Dutchman, to be his wandering home now and she bestowed gifts on him as well, the organ that he had played at church, a locket that would play their lullaby, and a chest, one where he could keep his heart. He soon set sail, not knowing of my existence...Calypso gave birth to me and lingered on the island for many years, an outcast in the superstitious village here."

Elizabeth blinked and asked, "Why didn't she go with him or return back under the waves, what stopped her?"

Dalma sighed and answered, "For one thing, I did, she knew that I couldn't breathe under water as she did and perhaps she didn't go with Davy because she knew what change would consume him, without his heart, how not even her love could have removed his hate. Still, I think she might have been losing her powers as well...she was wasting away, unwilling to leave her memories or go back and try to forget, she was stuck on Isla Cruces as the village dwindled, with people leaving for better opportunities. Almost 9 nine years passed before she tried to move on, not back to the ocean, but into the arms of another man on the island...he was your father, Anamaria, soon wedded to her by the last priest to live here, though she did not love him. All of this time, I knew nothing of myself, of my father, until about a year later when mother told me to take my baby sister and hide in the groves. I hid, but I saw the return of Davy Jones, now able to step on land with the passage of 10 years, already changed to a crustacean form with a cursed crew following him. They first stopped at a sandbar, where they buried the chest of his heart as he secured the key, then they went to our home and killed Anamaria's father...I heard Calypso crying like waves crashing against the rocks. After Davy left, returning to his ship, I came back with my baby sister and over time, our mother told me everything...I knew she would leave and she did, slipping beneath the waves to forget. We left Isla Cruces with the last colonists, abandoning the ruins of their failure and of the love of Calpyso and Davy Jones."

The sun was now risen and, having not eaten anything yet, they spread about the ruins of the church, sitting on old stones as they ate their meal in secluded spots separated from the others. Anamaria and Tia Dalma sat together in the recess that once housed the organ, the young sister willing to speak to her elder now after all that she had finally learned. Cotton, Gibbs, and Marty sat on the threshold of the church, eating as they gazed out toward the trees, hoping to see their mates return. The captains both climbed up the stairs, thinking that they were willing to risk the instability of the bell tower for the ultimate in privacy. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Will walked together down the aisle, heading to the foot of the old altar as they laid their breakfast to one side...it was time for them to consider their future.

Elizabeth and Will said nothing for a moment until Elizabeth sighed and whispered, "We were so young, when we fell in love, and we hardly knew anything about ourselves...each one so close and yet so far away from piracy, unaware of how it would affect our lives. Here in the Caribbean, we tried to make our paradise and we even went so far as to arrange our wedding, to both swear to devote our entire lives to each other...yet here we are. Both too painfully aware of our curses and our shortcomings, regretful of our disappointments, and now standing at a fine line...to try and make our relationship work or to let go of our lives together."

Will blinked and queried, "Wait, what do you mean by disappointments? I mean, what...what have I done, besides running off to fight Norrington in Tortuga?"

Elizabeth rubbed her forehead and responded, "To me, that was the 3rd time you had disappointed me, and all of these disappointments have been too recent for comfort...the 2nd time was on this very island. I would have expected Jack Sparrow and James Norrington to fight and quarrel so childishly over Davy's heart, both greedy and stubborn to have his own way without compromise, but you just jumped into the fight! I tried to get your attentions, but none of you would stop, none of you heard me or all of you were just ignoring me...I couldn't stand it, especially when you were involved. Those last two times, it felt like you abandoned me, and that was also how I felt the first time you disappointed me, although I know you couldn't help it the first time...my wedding. I stood there in my wedding dress, my...my father sitting in the front row and with our friends, the priest was waiting for it to begin, but you still didn't show up. For a few minutes, I waited with my feet aching and my vision blurring with tears, my heart...I know how Davy felt, all those years ago, how love can hurt you so. I did think that you had abandoned me, that I would have to stand here forever, but when news came that you had been captured, I collapsed onto my knees and cried. The other guests, most pirates themselves, quickly deserted the site as it started to rain, the cake sagging and the wineglasses filling with rainwater as I cried. My whole being was so pained...yet it ended, somehow the tears and my pain faded, and I was numb by the time they came to arrest me. Perhaps...perhaps then was when I first had my doubts, about our love."

Will stared at her, then lowered his head as he whispered, "Right...perhaps it is true, that I disappointed you just as you disappointed me. I mean, your kiss with Jack...and then learning the reason why you had to kiss him...I was disappointed, maybe, although properly I was stunned. Back at Tortuga, I didn't know what to think, about you becoming a pirate, especially from doing such a cold act without a regret."

Elizabeth shook her head and muttered, "Believe me, it wasn't something that I did calmly, without a regret, and it wasn't cold...there was a chill in my heart, yes, but I wasn't completely numb. I could feel the pain and…yes, I'll admit, I felt the kiss."

Will blinked, but he cleared his throat and said, "I...I don't know what to say. To be a pirate, it's just too much, something that I can't do...you were right about my problem, I did see death on that ship and when I saw you, you were an angel. Perhaps, in my state, I clung to you and you felt pity...that was our love, or what I mean is…is that was just the start of our love, a poor start perhaps. Then we've changed so much or, maybe now, we're back at the beginning...only to find that we're mature enough to realize how I cling and how you pity and we don't like it. Perhaps we're stuck in a mess now, hard to untangle, and…Elizabeth, you can handle it if we let go of each other, right? I mean, with your father and…"

Elizabeth nodded and replied, "I can handle it. You know who I am now. And now you realize who you are...I hope you can handle it, that knowledge in your life. If we survive, I wish you all the best in life, wherever and whatever we do...but for now, perhaps we should distance ourselves."

Will glanced away and stood up as he murmured, "Yes, that's for the best...thank you, for your kind words, Elizabeth. I wish you the best in life as well, and perhaps you need that blessing more than me since you're going into an unstable life of piracy. And since you're in love with a man neither alive nor dead, a man you may never see again and even then, a man that you should perhaps be wary of...savvy? He is a pirate, after all, that Captain Jack Sparrow."


	10. Luck and Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confrontation in the bell tower...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is interesting. Here are my original notes for this chapter:
> 
> 'I especially admire the first part of this chapter, having been inspired after seeing an old movie called 'The Third Man', none other than Orson Welles as a disturbing character doing whatever business is necessary to flourish in the split Berlin. In one of the scenes, the protagonist and Orson are meeting on the East side as they ride a ferris wheel, which naturally stops at the top. Orson is looking out, contemplating how small everyone looks down there or so when it comes to his business and, as the scene progresses, Orson opens the door of their little cab...he eventually closes it, but it just came that close for the end of the protagonist. In his final address in this scene, as the cab goes down to land, he remarks that in the past, Italy was torn apart into warring states while Switzerland enjoyed roughly 600 years of peace, but what did Italy produce? Leonardo da Vinci, Micheangelo, and the Renaissance. What did Switzerland produce? Why, the cuckoo clock.
> 
> Disclaimer: Bare necessities, the simple bare necessitites, forget about your worry and your strife-but just don't forget that these characters, unfortunately, belong to Disney.'

Captain Sao Feng was the first to step up onto the platform of the bell tower, glancing behind him as he moved to the stone rail with Captain Hector Barbossa rising out of the stairwell, Jack the monkey perched on his shoulder, and grunting slightly as he looked around. The tower balcony was bare except for some rope and some brass chips on the floor, the last of the colonists might have hacked up the bell up here, unable to carry it down, to get pieces of brass to melt down for profit.

As Jack the monkey jumped off of Barbossa's shoulder to clamber onto the stone rail, Barbossa now turned to Sao Feng and queried, "What did you mean, with all of that you were babbling when I stopped you from falling into that empty grave?"

Sao Feng cleared his throat and glanced away, looking over the side at the groves below as he retorted, "Ah, I can't even rightly remember what I did say."

Barbossa shook his head and said, "It wasn't that long ago for you to have forgotten already, you were talking about all sorts of things, how you were blessed and cursed, how you saw how much harm you had caused. What did you do?"

Sao Feng inhaled sharply and stiffened, composed as he muttered, "I don't know what you're talking about. It was all just babble, just about my career and nothing more, I did nothing really for me to have overreacted like that."

Barbossa stared at him and murmured, "So, you got a little scared of pirating back then, is that all? You shouldn't be scared of it, especially if you're lucky enough to be...'blessed' with mates and friends. Why, Sao, we've known each other for years, for as long as you've been visiting the Caribbean...me and Jack used to visit you in Tortuga, when I was still his mate, we used to trade and go to the bar. My monkey Jack, he's been a dear treasure of mine for a long while now, all thanks to you. As for Tia Dalma, I don't know how she met you, but she seems to think highly of you, you probably impressed her with your Compass of Want. When this is all done, you'll have no need for want, not when we would owe you so much."

Sao Feng growled and turned to face Barbossa as he told him, "Ah, mates and friends are all good for a time, especially in pleasant weather, but you know just as well as I do that when the seas turn rough, there's no profit in keeping friends. After all, you urged your fellow mates to mutiny against Captain Jack Sparrow all those years ago, all to look after your own interests and make profit. As for myself, I have sensed a bad wind for some time now...after all, the East India Company didn't just spring up in the Caribbean all of a sudden. Why, it's made a nasty reputation of itself in India and other places and now it's worming its way into this part of the world, gaining influence and power to make its move on such places as Tortuga. Mates and friends, friends and mates, will be no match against the might of the East India Company!"

With that, Sao Feng lashed out, his strong arm slamming into some of the stones of the old balcony rail and Jack the monkey screeched as he jumped away, narrowing avoiding a tumble off of the old church. The monkey scampered back up onto Barbossa's shoulder, who started humming softly to his pet and rubbing him, as he glared at Sao Feng, breathing heavily as he stared down at the floor of the platform.

Finally, Captain Hector Barbossa sighed and murmured, "Sao Feng, you disappoint me. Even when I was cursed, I knew there was always the chance that I could escape and so I pursued that avenue, so that I might feel pleasure someday. My hope, little as it was, allowed me to continue so that I might taste the sweet juice of an apple once more. You were always fortunate, compared to me, and yet you have no hope at all when your situation is so less dire. I don't understand."

Sao shook his head and explained, "You exaggerate the desperation of your curse, at least you couldn't be killed then, you just had inconvenience. It may be hard to kill me with my blessing, yes, but it can be done and if the East India Company was to throw all of its effort against me, they can do it. Instead, you disappoint me, Barbossa...you're too old and sensible to believe in luck. There is only power and that's what matters, I think you understood that when you first rebelled against Captain Jack, though you may have lost that sense when the scope of your curse overwhelmed you. You know, you can learn from the downfall of Captain Jack Sparrow...as I knew him, he believed too much in his own luck and look where that got him-betrayed by his mates, in the past and now, hunted by Davy Jones, and now poor Jack's dead. As for me, I was never...'fortunate' enough to be taught to believe blindly in luck at a tender age, I was stuck in poverty, I had to grow quickly and I soon learned about the real force in the world, power. It was because of the power of the Manchurian emperor over my China that I and the others in my community were so poor. With such an education, I couldn't stand to linger long and I soon left my homeland for the first time, to seek my own power and my own blessings as a pirate."

Barbossa slowly nodded and told him, "You know, you're not the only pirate to have been born in poverty, but never mind that. It's odd, because I was just thinking about how you just mentioned your own 'blessings' as a pirate...not too long ago, you told me and the rest of my crew that you were blessed to have met such fine people as ourselves. Why, you were certain that, with all of us together, we would enjoy smooth sailing to World's End. However, not too long before that, Tia Dalma mentioned in private that she feared we were heading into...treacherous waters."

Sao Feng stepped forward and then halted, the two captains standing close to each other, right alongside the old stone balcony, weak stones with so many cracks in them that they could break...and it was so high up, the bell tower even rose above the canopy. They glared at each other.

Barbossa muttered, "It's high, so many bones would break."

Sao Feng smiled and exclaimed, "What does that matter to me? It may take some time, but all of my bones would regenerate, flesh and bone...your bones would remain broken, to your undoing!"

Barbossa lifted a hand, glancing at it and then at Sao as he muttered, "That is true, but if this hand were to grab your throat and choke you, as I fell, then not even your blessing could regenerate you, breath is not of flesh or bone. In such a struggle, I may die, but I would bring you down with me and the treacherous waters would be pacified."

Sao Feng shook his head, glancing away as he murmured, "Captain Hector Barbossa, I admire how you might sacrifice yourself, but the damage is already done and cannot be undone. My fellow countrymen will continue my task until its end while your crew would be unaware. In fact, they care nothing for you, I should say, when you were known to be nothing but a villain to them, so they may not consider your disappearance for long. It does not have to end up here, however, if you could have enough sense to recognize that you will have more...chance of keeping them alive when we come down together, in peace. Beyond Isla Cruces, I cannot say what may happen, but there may be a battle or something of its like...then you may fight me, or whoever else may come against you, in fair duel. As Jack would have said, it's best for you to accept my offer and wait for the opportune moment to fight."

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At that moment, Cotton, Gibbs, and Marty were sitting together underneath the arch of the threshold of the church, not feeling hungry enough to eat anything and unable to think of what else could be said or done. Behind them, within the church, all of their old friends and the other significant members of this voyage were probably busy talking, likely they didn't want to be disturbed in their private and important matters. In front of them, sitting around outside in the shade, the Cantonese sailors were eating and talking in their own manner, probably they wouldn't want to have any more company when they had their own, especially when such intruders wouldn't be able to understand them. In the end, the trio was just waiting for everyone else to come out of the church or for their missing mates to show up safely.

Finally, Gibbs sighed and whispered, "I tell you all, 'tis my bad luck, I should have kept a close eye on those fellows, especially since they are not as sharp as they should be. This place, the haunt of Calypso and Davy Jones as Tia Dalma told us, is not a place for poor men to get lost, that I should say."

Cotton nodded and glanced off into the distance, suddenly he gasped and pointed, trying to speak as his parrot squawked and flapped his wings while Gibbs and Marty stood up, squinting to see who was coming. Soon enough, they saw Ragetti and Murtogg stumble out of the tropical grove together, gasping and laughing with joy at the sight of their friends. The three fellows came over and slapped them on the back, shaking their hands as they expressed their relief, telling the absent men about Dalma's tale.

Murtogg blinked and cried, "Well, I be! I've never heard of such the like and even though Mullroy always said I'll believe everything, I wouldn't have believed it except that you are all ascertaining this!"

Ragetti nodded and remarked, "That would have been an odd thing to see, ol' Davy with a sea goddess."

Gibbs cleared his throat, trying not to glance at Ragetti's wooden eye as he asked, "Well, in any case, how did you two find your way here?"

Murtogg grinned and answered, "We used your heads, that's what we did, it was easier than we expected!"

Marty and Cotton stared at each other, though Ragetti was unaware of their astonishment as he nodded and shouted, "Aye, just the two of us, we didn't need Pintel or Mullroy to lead us! The old fools are still lost out there and yet here we are, we made it back first!"

Suddenly, a voice yelled, "What is this I hear about old fools? Are you two making fun of venerable men!"

The sailors winced and glanced over at Captain Barbossa, standing where other men had been sitting, the shadows of the church's core behind him as he stood on the threshold. Yet even as he stood underneath the arch, breathing in the fresh air after being cramped up in the bell tower, he could feel the figure of Captain Sao Feng behind him and he could guess that, though the darkness hid him, he had a smug look on his face.

Murtogg bowed his head and murmured, "No, sir, not at all."

Barbossa stepped outside as Sao followed, the Cantonese sailors now standing up at the appearance of their captain while Barbossa tried not to flinch, to fullly see the crowd of Feng's crew in plain, unobstructed view now was disturbing, as he muttered, "I'm glad to hear that. Ragetti, Murtogg, you two can never forget that those men led you well in the past when you had little experience. Though you may now be independent of them, always respect their ability...they can still teach you a lesson you will never forget."

Captain Sao Feng glanced at Barbossa and frowned, the tenseness only felt by the captains and by the Cantonese crew that awaited their orders, but finally Sao Feng just cleared his throat and turned away, walking into his crowd. Barbossa shook his head, feeling a bit relieved though he was slightly put off by the plain fact that the others hadn't understood their danger. Still, he said nothing to them, now wasn't the time for trouble when they had been lucky enough to avoid it just then, instead he walked back with them towards the church. For everyone else was now stepping outside, having already settled what business needed to be settled here, and they blinked at the sunlight, for so much else had been revealed in only dimness, before gathering around Tia Dalma for a meeting.


	11. Obstacles and Loyalty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With obstacles laid in place and loyalty being tested, can they survive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original disclaimer: 'Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice might say, I do not own these characters or their Wonderland!'

Tia Dalma glanced back and forth as the sailors gathered around her, with Mullroy and Pintel panting slightly as they finally staggered out of the grove after getting hopelessly bewildered. Meanwhile, Anamaria stared at her sister with respect, now with a fuller understanding of Dalma's powers and that she personally possessed some of these as well.

Dalma raised her hands when all were present and she said, "The day's hours are slipping away and we must set a course for World's End from here. Captains, while you were in the tower, did you gauge a reading of which way to go?"

Captain Sao Feng and Captain Barbossa stared at each other, unsure of how to respond, but suddenly Barbossa gasped and replied heartily, "Aye! We go north from Isla Cruces!"

The sailors nodded and agreed while Sao Feng leaned towards Barbossa and inquired, "How did you figure that out?"

Barbossa murmured, "Up in the tower, we were standing on the north side when we spoke of...the fall. Besides, that's probably the best direction for World's End since the Bermuda Triangle lies in that direction."

Sao Feng slowly nodded as Tia Dalma continued, "Excellent, my captains, north it is, though we certainly didn't stop here just to get our nautical bearings. This island, as I'm sure all of you are now aware, is also a presence, one that can have great impact in the lives of some. Here, my mother Calypso met and lost love and, today, I'm sure you all came to recognize a new effect upon your lives."

Most of the Chinese sailors glanced at each other and shrugged, but some people, especially those of the Caribbean crew, nodded, including Murtogg, Ragetti, Sao Feng, Barbossa, Will and Elizabeth. After that, Dalma bowed her head and the captains whistled, waving their hands as they turned and walked off into the grove, soon followed by their crews for the return to the beach. Will and Elizabeth said nothing to each other as they steered a distance away from each other, Tia Dalma and Anamaria walked close to the front in whispered conversation, while Sao Feng muttered to some of his fellow Chinese sailors in Cantonese. At the back of the group, the old fellows lagged behind, Barbossa, Mullroy, Pintel, Gibbs and Cotton, all of them grim and silent as they walked at a leisurely pace.

Finally, Mullroy grunted and muttered, "We just got out and now we're going back in, it's exhausting. Well, at least we'll be sure to stick with you fellows this time around."

Gibbs firmly nodded and declared, "Aye, and I'll keep my eyes on all of you, I'm responsible for overseeing my mates and I'll do my duty. Bad luck's odd, I've been thinking, and perhaps it's best if I don't dwell on it, it's already hard enough to consider my jobs."

Pintel sighed and murmured, "Yes, we've all got hard jobs and even when all is said and done, we don't get any respect for it. Look at me and Mullroy, we've been like fathers...no, teachers to Ragetti and Murtogg and now that they don't need us anymore, they're ignoring us!"

Barbossa scratched his beard, as Jack the monkey chattered, and remarked, "That is the real truth of it sometimes, I'm sad to admit, the pupils become adept and abandon their old mates. Still, we've got each other for company and we've got to let them make their own way, let them realize how important we were, then we'll have some respect. As for you, Joshamee Gibbs, I admire your dedication to your crew and to Jack Sparrow...it was just too hard for me, all the years ago."

Cotton's parrot squawked, "Friend! Friend!"

Barbossa cleared his throat and said, "That's right, I was his friend, but that was hardly much, just some company for drinking...I didn't even know Captain Jack Sparrow too well, now that I think on it. Perhaps there was something more to him, since you all are so loyal now."

Gibbs turned to gaze at Barbossa as he informed him, "Ah, that's the truth, Jack had another side to him. I don't know for sure, but I think Miss Elizabeth Swann now sees such a side to Jack and so she and Will are walking apart, their love may be cold now if she feels a passion for Jack. However, Captain Hector Barbossa, I'll admit that you're not too much of a bad fellow, for a pirate."

Barbossa smiled and sighed, feeling weary as he murmured, "I thank you kindly for that, Gibbs, and that's the real truth."

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A small armada of 5 ships, (two minor vessels in the rear, The Spear of Lord Cutler Beckett and The Dauntless of Commodore James Norrington in the middle, and the tip of Malcolm's Maid at the head with Admiral Smith,) is advancing on the residue trail of the secret beacon. Suddenly, a sailor in Malcolm's Maid's crow nest calls out and the word is spread, Admiral Smith begins to slow his ship to a halt. The other ships in the armada follow suit, surprised at this pause in the middle of the ocean until they clearly start to see the distant form. It is The Flying Dutchman, still in the water despite the wind fluttering its sails, without any sign of activity on its deck. The armada circles round the ship, The Spear positioned near the bow of Dutchman while the Dauntless swings round close to its stern. Lord Cutler Beckett and Mercer step onto the deck of their ship, Mercer carrying a small casket with Davy's heart, and Beckett observes the other deck with his telescope until he finally sighs and snaps his fingers. Mercer opens the chest and grasps the heart, squeezing slightly until Davy Jones suddenly appears on The Spear's deck, groaning as he tries to take a step forward, toward them and his heart, but Mercer's will, in possession of the heart, keeps Davy several feet away from it.

Lord Cutler Beckett adjusts his wig and says, "I am very confused right now as to why you are here. The other day, I sent you ahead of us, for it would take a full day for the armada to collect itself to sail off, and I thought it would be easier for you to handle matters until my arrival. However, we have now caught up with you, without any prisoners on your ship, which indicates that you haven't even encountered them at all...you have just been sitting here, probably for the course of an entire day. There is no bad weather to account for it and there couldn't have been any misfortune on this ship as everything about it, crew included, is unnatural and undead. By the way, where is your crew?"

Davy Jones glared at Beckett and replied, "I let them go, beyond my call, to whatever afterlife awaited them. If I could, I would send you as well."

Meanwhile, Commodore James Norrington had ordered all of his men to check the pumps below-decks in this calm interval and so was the only man parading the decks of the Dauntless. At that moment, as he gazed out towards the stern of The Flying Dutchman, uncommonly as still as it had been when they had first approached this unnatural ship, he could only see one lone, cursed pirate standing at its rail. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, that same pirate was standing beside Norrington, who now could clearly see his wretched face, though the conveyance didn't amaze Norrington since he had seen it before.

The cursed pirate held out his hand and said, "My name's Bootstrap Bill and my captain saw you looking at us, back in Tortuga, with sympathy. Who are you and how are you involved in this mess?"

Norrington cleared his throat and shook the man's cold hand as he told him, "I'm Commodore James Norrington and I've heard of you. I knew your son Will Turner for many years when he was just a blacksmith and I was a soldier. Then I was forced to travel for a time with Captain Jack Sparrow, being in dishonor, and met again with your son Will Turner on...Isla Cruces in the ruckus over your captain's heart. He was trying to get Davy's heart to save you, but I was the one that finally claimed it in trickery, so that I might regain my status. That is how I am involved, cursed as I am with corruption in this paradise, cursed to doom Davy Jones and all lost souls, living or dead, to the harsh reign of the East India Company. Even as I regret my actions, I do not know how I can amend for them, by apology to Davy Jones or by action to risk a doomed attempt to retrieve the heart. I can only do so little, to release some pirates from the clutches of the foul Beckett, but not enough."

Bootstrap Bill stared at him, almost angry that this man had brought about so much devastation, but he sensed that Norrington's sorrow was true, and so he informed him, "I can say that we will appreciate what little effort you can give us, when the time is right. If a final battle should come, I suggest you should be prepared to fight alongside us to reclaim Davy's heart. There is only me and him now, the rest are gone...we will need as much help as we can get."

Meanwhile, Lord Cutler Beckett sighed and said, "Such words are nothing but spite, I would think that you control yourself better than that, Davy Jones. I have known the stab of bile in my own heart before, an urge to spew out hateful words to those that thought themselves better than me when I was poor, but I swallowed such words. They would have done me no good then, for I was too young to correct the state that had been brought upon me through the misfortune that my mother had been unable to marry the right man. Davy Jones, you are in such a vulnerable place yourself now, as your words will do you little good here. As for your pursuit of these pirates, I will hold you to a small punishment for releasing your crew in a vain attempt to contradict the pursuit, but that is only because it did little good. The residue in the air, thick as it is in its trail, indicates that they have lingered almost as long as you have, probably on the shore of a nearby island. I do not understand why they would have been so idle for so long, they should have known better...the East India Company will not rest, especially when they are so frustrating."

Mercer nodded and raised Davy's heart as he queried, "My lord, shall we begin the bombardment upon them?"

Beckett grinned and snapped his fingers, Mercer crushed Davy's heart and he cried out in pain, yet in his agony, he could still hear Beckett bellow, "Feel that pain? Use that pain and your anger, seize the winds and whip the waves toward that beacon, toward those pirates, unleash your fury upon them in a storm they will never forget!"

Davy Jones roared and flexed his arms, muttering softly as he swept his arms across, screaming and blowing as the waves swept away from the armada, the sky clouding in the distance. A hurricane was forming, several miles away from them, centralized on The Empress as it started to sail out of the bay of Isla Cruces.

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In the distorted desert, Captain Jack Sparrow woke up and grasped, clutching at the sand as he felt the desert trembling, and he cried, "Help! There's a storm, can't anyone feel it?"

Maccus glanced around and shook his head as he replied, "No, we don't feel anything, but we're dead...what's going on? You're partly in the outside world, what's happening?"

Governor Weatherby Swann pushed past him and bent down, frowning at Jack as he exclaimed, "Never mind that! You mentioned Elizabeth while you were sleeping, I heard you, what was that all about?"

Up above, Teague Sparrow leaned over the rail of The Black Pearl and yelled, "Did he really, Weatherby? Why, Jack, that sounds wonderful! With everything the guv'nor's told me about his daughter, she sounds like a wonderful match for ya! My blessings on ye both, should ya survive!"

Governor Swann turned around and shouted, "Please, don't say anything, Teague, I am highly skeptical that it would be a...'wonderful match'! Well, that's just my opinion, so what is the ruckus with you, Jack?"

Jack Sparrow sat up, slightly unbalanced as he told them, "Back there, on that island, the sky was growing dark...I wasn't afraid, I had managed to crawl into a cave a distance away from the beach. Yet then it grew worse, so quickly, the waves were crashing into my cave and the wind-oh, bugger it, it was starting to turn into a hurricane."

Koleniko shook his head and muttered, "That sounds like the work of Davy Jones, prodded on by your Lord Cutler Beckett...by my reckoning, we weren't that far behind your friends when we crossed over. That hurricane is meant for them, they're stuck out there on the high sea in the middle of it."

Governor Weatherby Swann gasped and staggered back, murmuring, "No, it can't be, that's my Elizabeth, she shouldn't be out there...I can't do anything."

Jack Sparrow stared at Swann, then he suddenly stood up and strode over to the shadow of the Black Pearl, raising his head to cry, "Father! I know what I need!"

Teague Sparrow was silent for a moment and then he muttered, "Go on, me son, say what ya think ye need...I've got the rope ready to drop down, should ya be right."

Captain Jack Sparrow slowly nodded and cleared his throat, ignoring the spirits intently watching him, and he said, "For the right leverage, what I need is...is another soul, right, the trust from and for another heart, out of no other obligation or profit save for what we both need. From this other heart, I need to find...for lack of a better term, peace and grace, possibly through kindness and mercy...maybe a little passion as well, that might work rather well. Of course, all of that entails that we both give the other maybe a little...support and guidance, in both fair and foul weather for as long as possible, truly committed to each other of our own free will. Yes, I think that's about right, what I need is...true love."

The former sailors of The Flying Dutchman stared at each other, wondering if they would have realized all of that if they had been given that chance when they were still alive. Governor Weatherby Swann, gazing at Jack, lifted his hand and touched it to his chest, wondering if he could still feel the heart that had felt like that when it came to his own Natasha. On the deck of The Black Pearl, Teague sighed and rubbed the rail, turning his back on his son to gaze up at the mast where the ragged sails hung limply, thinking that his own poor Pearl had looked like that in her final moments.

Meanwhile, down below, Captain Jack had sagged a little when his father had turned his back and he lowered his eyes, gazing down at the sand, so dry and lifeless and immutable...suddenly, the end of a rope dropped into the middle of his view, wagging slightly. Jack blinked and lifted his head as he distantly heard the others cheer, but he could only focus on the shadow of his father and so he grabbed the rope and started to climb, still gazing up for a better view. As he reached the rail of The Black Pearl and as Teague helped pull him on board, Jack got a full, clear view of his father's face and the grin on it now.

Jack nodded and told him, "Right, then, let's help the others get on board."

Several minutes passed by as, together, the two Sparrows aided the boarding of Governor Swann and the other pirates until they were all gathered on the deck of The Black Pearl, gazing all around in relief as Jimmylegs stepped forward and bellowed, "All right, gentlemen and ruffians! Let's take charge and get out of World's End!"

Teague rubbed his forehead and remarked, "Well, actually...that might be a little harder to do."

Penrod frowned and stepped forward as he queried, "What do you mean by that, sir? We're all on board, as your son Jack passed his little test, so there's nothing to stop us leaving here, right?"

Teague gestured and responded, "You're right, Jack figured out what he needed and now you've taken control of the ship, but as for the rest...it's out of our hands. Look around, I've never been out to sea on a ship before, but I still know that you need water for a ship to float away...this World's End, whatever it is, is just a desert right now."

Ogilvey growled and turned on Jack as he shouted, "You told us we were going to leave, that we were going to get the chance to fight Beckett!"

Governor Swann stepped between the man and Captain Jack Sparrow as he calmly told them all, "Listen, let's just be reasonable, I'm sure it wouldn't do any of us any good if we turned on each other. Now, Mr. Teague Sparrow, is there anything else that we need to get out of World's End?"

Teague Sparrow nodded and replied, "Yes, one last thing...we know what Jack needs, but that in turn requires equal leverage...we need proof of the guidance, that commitment from the other heart."

The other pirates muttered to each other and walked off, to find some chore to occupy them until then, while Captain Jack Sparrow slowly nodded, though he looked slightly worried. Though he knew, despite everything that had happened, that he had such feelings, he didn't know if such affection was returned likewise…he wasn't certain of that prospect, not with everything going against him.

Weatherby Swann smiled and patted Jack on the shoulder as he murmured, "Ah, my boy Jack, have a little faith in Elizabeth's heart...I think she has enough faith for us all."


	12. The Maelstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The true traitors are discovered and revealed...and Norrington, in unfortunate circumstances, gains a parrot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original disclaimer: 'Under the sea, Under the sea, let's hope there are no Disney shark lawyers under the sea! I don't own these characters, waw-waw-waw-waw-waw! (Somebody shoot seagull Scuttle, 'shanks!)'

As they set out, they at first didn't notice the darkening clouds, but they felt that something was wrong when the winds started to slap the sails and when the waves started to pound against their hull. With these signs, Captain Barbossa and Captain Sao Feng both lift up their heads and frown at the formation of the clouds while Tia Dalma gasped, staggering backwards as Elizabeth and Anamaria rush over to check on her.

Will, standing at the side, notices something is wrong and hesitantly walks over to the group, close enough to hear Dalma cry out, "Ah! A storm approaches, intent with design, I fear it is the working of Davy Jones at Beckett's bidding!"

Sao Feng nodded and called out orders in Cantonese as the Chinese sailors raced over to the mast to bring down the sails while the Caribbean crew flocked around Tia Dalma. In their huddle, they debated the possible force of the approaching storm and tried to understand how far away they were from the perceived World's End in the Bermuda Triangle. In these matters, there was more urgency for the pirates than in immediately aiding Sao's crew, as they were competent sailors who knew the workings of their own ship better than anyone else and were better suited to prepping it to handle a heavy blow. However, Will was unwilling to join his companions right now, especially so soon after his break with Elizabeth, and so he set off towards the mast to help pull down the sails, his presence unnoticed by the Chinese sailors in the darkness settling upon them.

As he clambered up the various levels of ropes towards the highest reaches, when those sails would be most susceptible to the gale winds, he started to consider that this would probably be the last time he would ever climb a mast. If he were to abandon piracy, Will knew that he would settle into the simple life of a blacksmith...in his ascension, glancing up, he suddenly noticed a glowing green light, a suspicious spectacle that hurried him all the way to the crow's nest. Up there, he found the source of the light, a rod smeared with a luminous gel...Will frowned and wrenched the rod off of the peak of the mast, holding it out as he peered at it for a moment. After that stand-still moment of contemplation, he gripped the rod tightly and moved, as agile as the raindrops falling, mixed with a fierceness like the lightning flashing as he swooped down the webbings, a unstoppable force, his boots slamming down onto the deck with the crash of thunder.

He dashed past Captain Sao Feng, who gasped and cried out in alarm, but it was too late as Will had reached his friends and slammed down the rod into their midst as he shouted, "Treachery! Davy Jones was able to track us all this way because of this beacon! Inspect it, see for yourself!"

Gibbs leaned down and sniffed as he muttered, "There is an odor in this gel, very distinct...and it lingers."

Cotton frowned as his parrot squawked, "Glow in the dark!"

Captain Barbossa nodded and murmured, "Aye, this gel is made from an odd chemical, one that must leave a residue in the air."

Anamaria glanced up at the sky as she added, "Yes, a residue that could be spread by the sea wind, especially with the forceful gusts at the height of the mast."

Elizabeth shuddered and remarked, "I always wondered how Norrington found us in Tortuga, but now I suspect he was forewarned."

Marty cleared his throat and yelled, "Everyone, we're not alone!"

The Caribbean pirates turned as one and regarded Captain Sao Feng, standing a distance away from them with several members of his crew massed behind him...the two parties, seemingly united out of necessity to survive the force of the East India Company, now had to contend with each other.

At last, Sao Feng sighed and, over the noise of the booming storm, he cried, "So, now you all know who I am!"

Mullroy frowned and shouted, "Yes, a privateer, and it's a disgrace! You were always talking about coming to the Caribbean, to escape the oppression and poverty caused by your emperor, yet now you're acting as the instrument of another imperial power just as worse!"

Murtogg blinked and glanced over at Mullroy as he queried, "Mullroy, were we not also the instruments of an imperial power when we were soldiers?"

Mullroy shrugged and responded, "Well, uh, actually…we might have been, but we're done with all of that stuff, we're not tools anymore, we're pirates!"

Pintel chuckled, slapping Mullroy on the back, while Gibbs glared at Captain Sao Feng and asked, "How did Norrington receive news that we were in Tortuga, just in time to ambush us?"

Sao pointed towards the stern and answered, "There is another longboat back there, one always prepped to be deployed, and I sent it out with some of my crew as soon as you all took off after Will. They managed to get ahead with several shortcuts through the isle's swamps and since our sleek boat had a mast, originally designed as a smuggler's or a rumrunner's boat. Once they reached the harbor, the sailor best able to speak English relayed my message to the commanding officer, Admiral Norrington himself."

Ragetti nodded and remarked, "That sounds handy."

Elizabeth, who had been staring down at the rod for awhile now, lifted up her soaked head and, almost too softly to be heard in the storm, she murmured, "Sao Feng, you have spoken often of curses and blessings. You're a pirate at heart, I can even see why you abetted the efforts of the East India Company...protection and profits, that is the secret desire of all pirates. Yet any pirate that seeks to fulfill such desires at the expense of his allies, that brings no blessing to him, just curses. You probably thought that if you led us astray, into their hands, the East India Company would reward you with power, yet here you and your crew are, stuck on the same boat as us...in a storm devised by Davy Jones from the orders of Lord Cutler Beckett himself."

Captain Sao Feng glanced up at the mast of his ship, where several of his fellow mates were struggling to bring down the sails, as he muttered, "You're right about that, Miss Swann, yet it is too late for me to regret that now. I was the one who attached that beacon and even though your Will has torn it down, they still know where we are and I cannot change that. Perhaps I should have known that this would be my doom, I always told myself that I shouldn't hope for anything, especially in the belief of luck. Yet I did go against my principles, I tried to believe that I had luck and would profit from my alliance with the East India Company. Now here is the absolute proof that there is no such thing as luck, the only thing that matters is power...this storm will destroy us all."

With these last words, lightning flashed and revealed what the darkness of the hurricane had hid, a huge, foaming wave that was curling towards The Empress, everyone screamed and cried out as the wave crashed against the ship and swept across the deck, tipping the ship. As this occurred, almost everyone tried to grab hold of something stable to prevent being hurled overboard, but Captain Sao Feng opened his arms and called out a welcome in Cantonese as the wave claimed him as its first victim, tossing him out into the maelstrom of the currents. Captain Hector Barbossa groaned and looked away, Sao had been a good man once before he lost himself in treacherous waters, as he wondered if the next wave would claim himself as well.

Meanwhile, Cotton spit out some water and whistled, holding out his hand as his parrot side-stepped down his arm and onto that wrist, while Cotton stared at his loyal bird and cooed softly before he flung his arm. The parrot soared up into the air, screeching in the wind as his bright plumage disappeared into darkness while the old man waved good-bye and turned his head, squinting as he wondered if he could spy another wave approaching. Ragetti was scrambling across the deck, frantically looking for his eye even as he dreaded that it had been washed away, while he heard Mullroy frantically calling for Murtogg.

Anamaria had grabbed Tia Dalma as she slid down the deck and now they were clutching at some loose boards, haggardly breathing as Dalma told her sister, "Oh, Anamaria...you should not have come, why did I not try to spurn you when you stepped onto this deck?"

Anamaria shook her head and replied, "Dalma, it was for the best that I came. For so many years I have wandered, not really certain of who I am and unable to forgive you for a petty grief...yet now here we are, as it should be, facing what darkness there is together, until the end."

Tia Dalma gasped and she covered her eyes, muttering, "No…for when the end should come, we will not be together, not while the bird flies to another perch. You will follow that bird, my baby sister, as it will be, while I will bring the darkness and yet the light."

Nearby, Elizabeth coughed, too tired...Jack, her father, Norrington, Will and Sao Feng, so many men in her life were fallen into darkness, death and corruption and the unknown, she could not see Will and feared from that. She was at World's End, Terra Incognita of darkness and despair, and those were her last thoughts as the final wave slammed into the boat. As she splashed into the cold ocean, she recalled the poem from her father's dying lips, words that she would never be able to speak to Captain Jack Sparrow now. Yet when Elizabeth closed her eyes, she felt the tide change, the water swelling with buoyancy...unconscious, she and the others drifted over a now calm sea to a island roughly a mile away, to be deposited upon its shores.

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It was the twilight before dawn and Commodore James Norrington had gone to his cabin while the armada was halted in the interval needed for the hurricane, from which they were shielded from by Davy's magic binding it to within the confines of the Bermuda Triangle. So, being safely outside of the Triangle, the sailors had security and leisure enough to gather at the bow and watch the spectacle of nature's fury without any risk, but personally James was disgusted by their awe…especially since people were probably dying in that hurricane. Still, it was now quiet enough below-decks, with his whole crew distracted outside, that he took this secluded chance for a quick nap in his cabin, knowing that it would only be a short time before he was needed and he had to be well rested for his horrid command. At this point, Norrington had been sleeping for about 3 hours when he heard a whisper and, being a light sleeper, he was immediately awakened, groaning as he sat up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, despondent as he sleepily wondered who would dare wake him.

James turned his head and blinked, his eyes widening as he saw Bootstrap Bill standing there, yet he composed himself as he queried, "What are you doing here? Is the hurricane wasting away already?"

Bootstrap Bill nodded and responded, "Yes, one of your crew is bound to be coming for you soon, so I will be short. Even with Lord Beckett controlling his heart, forcing him to create that hurricane, Davy Jones still has some control outside of that influence. When all of those onboard that ship, including my son and Elizabeth and their friends, were swept into the sea, Davy made it so that the sea would bear their weight. Thus, they were lifted upon a swell that will propel them into the shallows of a nearby island, the one that we are certain is World's End as it is inside the Bermuda Triangle, and at least some are safe. Your ship, and the rest of the armada, will soon take off and probably find that island...when Beckett mounts the attack, then you must be prepared to find a way to get to him."

Norrington sighed in relief, but suddenly he frowned and anxiously asked, "Is there...is there any way for Davy Jones to know who survived the initial dowsing into the ocean?"

Bootstrap Bill sighed and answered, "When Davy enabled their buoyancy, he knew that it was too small a chance that he could manage to save everyone in time, that some if not most of those floating to the island aren't already dead. I cannot assure you, or myself, that those we care about didn't drown. Still, we must continue with our purpose, to ensure that the East India Company will never have total dominion over the seas and those that roam it. Of course, even without Davy's heart, they still be powerful when it comes to force and weaponry, yes, but only on a flimsy, short-lived scale that will make no difference in the scheme of things. By our actions, we will doom ourselves to an end, but we will be prepared to meet it with honor as we have assured that corruption and tyranny will not last forever."

James Norrington slowly nodded, dumbfounded by such a speech, but when there was a knock on the door, Bootstrap Bill instantly disappeared and Norrington gasped, startled and bewildered. As he stood up and answered the knock, he could barely comprehend the sailor that saluted him and told him to come out and give orders for departure. James was still trying to absorb the whole conversation, to reassure himself that it had not been a figment of his own imagination. Commodore Norrington strode onto deck and cried out his orders to his men before he walked over to a side rail, seeking privacy as he gazed out at the expanse of the ocean, gloomy without the light of the sun. In the shadows of the waves, he wondered if he saw a floating parade of drowned souls, always moving and always visible through the magic of Davy Jones, carried away forever with the currents. He tried not to think that Elizabeth was now one of their number, but he couldn't stop picturing her pale face, staring without seeing up at twilight...suddenly, there was a squawk and James Norrington jumped. He turned about and gaped at the tropical, almost hopeful sight of a green and yellow parrot now perched on the rail, fluttering his wings as his beady eyes stared up at Norrington.

The parrot bobbed his head and screeched, "Sir!"

James Norrington bent down and whispered, "I've seen you before...you were the parrot of that mute fellow, Cotton, and you spoke for him. I do not know why you are here, though I fear I know why you had to leave your former master...do not call me sir, little parrot. I am not your owner."

The parrot cocked his head and ruffled his feathers, shaking his head at that odd angle as he flapped up into the air, landing on Norrington's shoulder as the man flinched slightly at the way the talons dug into his clothes and skin. At last, James Norrington cleared his throat and turned his head to glare at the parrot, but the bird stared back at him and squawked softly.

At last, Commodore James Norrington sighed and murmured, "Fine, I shall be your owner, it suits me now that I am truly turning into a pirate. Of course, you need to fly away from me for a few minutes, for my men should not see me with you perched on my shoulder, it would give the game away. And when this is all over, and if I manage to survive somehow, I should find a suitable name for you, but that will be another matter entirely and we have more urgent business this morning."


	13. Welcome to World's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The main crew, after suffering some losses, arrive at World's End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original disclaimer (I was slightly upset): 'Of course, Disney hasn't always been perfect when it comes to their movies...especially when it comes to straight to video sequels...especially when these are sequels to classic Disney favorites...and I don't mean those from the 90s, I mean those from the older movies...originals that were beautiful with the characters, once sweet little animals, growing up and realizing that though there are tragic events in life, there can still be hope and joy for the future...and then the sequels go back to their childhoods. Even when there is nothing more to be learned. I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean, but I wish that Disney didn't own Bambi and The Fox and the Hound; then I wouldn't hold anything against them.'

Elizabeth Swann groaned and rolled over onto her stomach, coughing out seawater as she wiped her mouth and managed to push herself into a sitting position while the waves lapped around her. She was still for a moment, finding herself staring out towards the ocean, as she wondered how she could be still alive…then, feeling chilled by the water, she slowly stood up, grunting slightly with her weak legs. Elizabeth turned around awkwardly, staring at a wall of shadowy green foliage stretching back from a gray sand shore, littered with rocks, before she staggered up the beach, walking past so many cold bodies. Most of those adrift in the surf were the Chinese sailors that she had never known, men that had died so far away from their native land, trying to find a way to support themselves with shady business that had doomed them to this forsaken shore.

Elizabeth shuddered and lifted her head, glancing to the left and to the right...in the twilight, she could see a handful of other people standing up and so she knew she wasn't the only survivor, though she couldn't see who they were. Within a few minutes, all of these people had finally walked beyond the tide-line and they headed towards the shade of a tree, collapsing into sitting positions as they congregated and glanced around, checking to see who was here and who was missing. Captain Hector Barbossa, Will, Tia Dalma, Anamaria, Gibbs, Pintel, Marty, Ragetti, Murtogg and Mullroy eventually stumbled over...the two former soldiers told them that they had seen Cotton, dead in the surf, and then there were about 15 surviving Chinese sailors, somber and uneasy.

Gibbs groaned and murmured, "Oh, poor old Cotton...here, Barbossa, ask them who can speak English."

Barbossa slowly nodded and asked the question in Cantonese as 5 sailors slowly raised their arms and then Barbossa muttered, "Right, translate and tell the others that we hold nothing against you all, especially when the East India Company has done this to all of us. We'll work together for now, since they'll be coming for us soon...we have too little time left to look for Captain Jack Sparrow."

Mullroy lifted his head and wearily asked, "Is this really the island?

Tia Dalma rubbed her forehead and answered, "Yes, we are here, after everything that has happened...we have reached World's End. We shall split up and spread out, this island shouldn't be very big, I don't think it is Bermuda itself or anything as big as that."

Anamaria grunted as she stood up and scanned their surroundings, pausing once as she glanced towards the ocean and softly whispered, "Oh, Barbossa...tell them that Captain Sao Feng is over there, down that way."

Barbossa sighed and relayed the message, and while the Chinese sailors got up to take care of their captain's body, the rest of the Caribbean crew went their separate ways, some heading into the island's interior while others followed the shoreline.

Will Turner turned to Elizabeth and bowed his head as he told her, "Well, we are here, so few of us now, all for the sake of your Jack. Yet I still hope that we find him alive and well...you have already lost your father and I don't want you to suffer more grief now."

Elizabeth lowered her head and murmured, "Thank you for your sympathy, Will, I am sorry about the pain I have caused you as well. I...it has been hard, on us all, and I hope that whatever comes for us, that we should all survive, especially you...you have been too good and it shouldn't end like this."

Will shrugged and muttered, "Well, it can't be helped, I will still fight no matter what happens...there is Davy Jones and there is Lord Cutler Beckett, and they will fight with me to an end, I will make sure of that. You say I am too good and, if it were any other day but today, you would be right...but today I shall forget who I am."

Elizabeth shuddered and couldn't think of anything else to say as Will turned and raced off into the trees while she walked away, down the shoreline, trying to keep herself steady. To compose herself, and to try not to look at the bodies, she checked her sword and her pistol in her belt...the powder was slightly wet, some bullets may misfire, but her sword was still good and that was what mattered. As Elizabeth slid her sword back into her scabbard, her thoughts strayed to what Will had said and she choked slightly, thinking about her poor father, imagining how he fell from Beckett's shove...the words pulsed, in her mind, the last words that he had ever spoken. Her steps stumbled and she blinked, shielding her eyes...she had meandered slightly, walking closer towards the tide in her progress, and now there were rock monoliths and arches in front of her, moist with the waves that crashed against them, forming their structure.

Elizabeth squinted and she saw the mouth of a cave, set just above the tide-line, situated in a sheltered locale...she clambered over and around the rocks, heading toward the cave, certain that she would find Jack inside. Yet just as she reached the mouth of the cave, she heard a distant cry and turned around...five ships were approaching the island, still far off, but coming fast. She could see some of the pirates gathered on the beach, ready to meet this armada sent by the East India Company, but she turned away...if they were to fight, it would give her more time. Elizabeth stepped into the cave, slogging through a stream of water from last night's hurricane, and soon spotted a prone figure...it was her Jack, her poor Captain Jack Sparrow.

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Captain Jack Sparrow sat on the steps leading up to the quarterdeck, his compass in hand as he numbly watched it spring around to all points while Governor Weatherby Swann sat beside him, taking off his hat and his wig as he sighed to himself. On the main deck, the Twins were cleaning up while Ogilvey checked the cannons, making sure that they were clean as Clanker and Crash carried cannonballs over to them. Maccus, Hadras, Wheelback and Palifico practiced their sword fighting while Penrod, Quittance, Jimmylegs, Greenbeard and Koleniko played a card game. Teague Sparrow, leaning against the rail, gazed over at his son…it had been so long since they had seen each other when they met again up on the deck of the Pearl, face-to-face. In fact, if both of them hadn't known who the other was, they wouldn't have been able to recognize each other, as Jack only had his memories of his late father and he had also grown over many years of life that Teague never knew. Teague Sparrow sighed, thinking that he should go over and talk to Jack while there was still time, their reunion now couldn't last and they had never been close before his death. Yet suddenly there came a cry from below, startling the man as he turned and gazed down at a large assemblage of pirates, though he couldn't see them clearly all the way up here.

Teague groaned and yelled, "Just grab the rope and climb up, fellows, welcome to The Black Pearl and World's End! We'll be sailing to battle as soon as we get the call!"

Down below, these new pirates glanced at each other and shrugged, probably deciding to come up since there was nothing else to do, and so the first of them grabbed the rope and started to climb. Meanwhile, Teague turned around in irritation, to find that the former crew of The Flying Dutchman, Governor Swann, and Jack were walking over to see these newcomers.

Weatherby cleared his throat and asked, "Who are these fellows?"

Teague growled and answered, "What does it matter? They're pirates, they're here, they might as well come and fight with us, right, Jack?"

Captain Jack Sparrow frowned and glanced aside as, a slight distance behind and below, the lead man climbing the rope called, "That's right, good sir, I'll be willing to fight for my old ship and captain again! Ahoy, Jack, I'm at your service!"

Jack blinked and turned his head as he exclaimed, "Hey, who are you? Your voice sounds familiar, poor soul, but I can't recall how!"

A wrinkled hand gripped the rail and Teague helped heave the first man aboard as Cotton bowed his head and said, "I thank you, sir, though I feel fitter now than I was these last few years of my life."

Jack gasped and cried, "Cotton! You...can speak! What happened to you, are all of these others...my crew?"

Cotton turned to face him and replied, "Of course I can speak now, no loss can affect me in this afterlife. I drowned, plainly enough, swept off the deck of The Empress along with most of her foreign crew in a hurricane. Don't worry, our friends are still alive, as far as I know."

Jack stared at Cotton, then strode over to the rail and glanced down, yet he had to quickly side-step away as the second man clambered up the last bit of rope and swung himself onto the deck of The Black Pearl, glancing around grimly. Yet Captain Sao Feng nodded, this would have to do when there was no other choice, and he turned towards Jack, bowing his head as he walked over to speak with him, followed by Cotton, Teague Sparrow, and Governor Weatherby. The five fellows instinctively met off to the side, distanced from the crew of The Flying Dutchman and the rest of the Chinese sailors ascending, as they knew that they would have private council.

Captain Jack Sparrow cleared his throat and murmured, "Captain Sao Feng, I must say welcome even under these unpleasant circumstances of death, though I am curious about how you got involved."

Cotton raised his hand and told him, "Well, first of all, it started with us going to Tia Dalma after...Miss Swann tied you to that mast. When we arrived, she told us that we could save you, with the help of herself and…Captain Hector Barbossa. She brought him back to life, sir, and he was the one who suggested that we should try to steal a ship, Sao Feng's ship."

Jack gaped at Cotton, it didn't seem fair that Barbossa could have returned after everything he'd done, but then Jack sighed and muttered, "Well, I suppose a really bad egg was better than no help, then. It's awkward, to know that he came back to take charge, but at least Tia Dalma came along to remind him of his obligations and keep him honest."

Sao Feng slowly nodded, silent for a moment before he suddenly blurted, "Yes, Captain Barbossa was well-behaved, better than I was at the time for, in truth, when they joined up, I immediately sent some of my men to inform Admiral James Norrington of the East India Company. I'm sorry, I was too corrupted, I was already a privateer for them in order to maintain my own profits and blessings in this Caribbean paradise."

Governor Weatherby Swann and Teague Sparrow stared at Captain Sao Feng in shock while Jack clenched his fists until, unable to resist, he lashed out and punched Sao. The captain barely flinched, being dead, but he whispered, "I deserved that, Jack, I really did."

Cotton turned back to Jack and informed him, "Right, you've gotten that out of your system, but he's already confessed and we can't fault him for much more, not when we don't have the time. I'm certain that those that still live are on your island already, Jack, Barbossa and Dalma and Anamaria and everyone...oh, did you know about Dalma's parents?"

Jack blinked and queried, "So...wait, the story about Davy Jones and Calypso...they were her parents? What about Anamaria?"

Cotton sighed and responded, "Just Calypso. Now look, I don't know what's going on, but with the beacon that Sao put on his ship for them all to track us, Beckett and Davy Jones and the whole armada of the East India Company are likely right behind us."

Jack groaned and murmured, "Yes, I kind of figured that might be the case...bugger it, now what's going to..."

Captain Jack Sparrow cried out and fell onto the deck as Teague bent down and exclaimed, "Son, what happened?"

Jack lifted his head and shouted, "Someone's dragging me out of the cave! They've found me, whoever they are...with any luck, we'll be out of this World's End soon enough, if Elizabeth can say what needs to be said!"


	14. What Needs to be Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth speaks the words that need to be said...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original notes: 'Now, the little prose I made up for this has parts of it taken from several lines from several different songs in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, most notably from 'Poor Wandering One'. Of course, these lines are scattered about, intertwined by substitutions I've created, to keep it fair. 
> 
> Disclaimer I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney) and, to be on the safe side, The Pirates of Penzance (G&S) though that may be public domain.'

As the ships approached the island, quite a few of the pirates halted their search and gathered at the edge of the beach, watching the approach as they discussed whether or not they should confront any landing party. There were 10 Chinese sailors, Marty, Tia Dalma, and Captain Hector Barbossa and Will Turner. The former crew-members of The Empress were squatting in the sand while one of them used a stick to sketch out the lay of the land, muttering softly in Cantonese as he explained the possibilities of the coming battle. Nearby, Tia Dalma had been feeling faint and was now lounging against the trunk of a tree, muttering softly to herself while Marty stood beside her and used a rag to mop off the sweat from her brow.

A few feet away, Captain Hector Barbossa was listening intently to the meeting of the Cantonese sailors and Will, feeling awkward, queried, "What are they saying?"

Captain Barbossa glanced back at Will and responded, "They are trying to decide if they should hold steady, here at the tree-line, in the first landing or if they should charge at the first chance of surprise. The ships are far enough away that they probably haven't spotted us yet, though that isn't a guarantee, and if there is no chance to surprise them, then it would be best to hold until the situation is fully gauged. In any case, they know that they are the first line of defense or attack, being endowed with a rare 'blessing' that will protect them as they eliminate as many men as possible."

Will sighed and murmured, "They are honorable...I can find no blame with them, or with their late captain, for becoming privateers. Their lives were far harsher than our own, they just wanted to find a better advantage here...if we live, Jack will probably let all of them join him if they so wish."

Barbossa nodded and remarked, "Yes, Jack can be forgiving in that way...to me, so many years ago, I thought it a weakness, but I see now that it is necessary, the best course of action sometimes in troubling times. Will Turner, I must say that it was an adventure indeed to have sailed with you and the rest of Jack's crew. I gather that you will leave us, when this is all over?"

Will nodded and replied, "Yes, I cannot take to piracy any longer...I was never really a pirate, entirely, I may have sometimes been brutal and cold enough for one, but...I am too good. Elizabeth loves Captain Jack and this pirate life, it will suit her fine, and I can leave in peace of her happiness. I will return to England, when I have done my part here...the Caribbean holds too many ill memories for me, especially...of your attack."

Captain Barbossa blinked and turned to stare at Will as he asked, "Uh...what do you mean?"

Will frowned and answered, "You attacked a merchant ship, about 12 years ago. I was on that ship, barely more than a boy, and I saw everything...you massacred them and then you sunk the ship."

Captain Barbossa gaped at Will, then he glanced away and lowered his head as he muttered, "Ah...I recall now, the Aztec gold. I cannot excuse that, Will, the damage that I did to them and to you...my sins are my own to bear, my curses, and I cannot ask forgiveness from anyone, especially those men whose lives I took."

Will sighed and rubbed his forehead as he murmured, "Yes, that's quite right, I just needed to hear that...it cannot change anything but it can cast a dim light into the darkness. Anyway, what about the others, where are they?"

Marty glanced up and replied, "Gibbs and Anamaria, along with the rest of the Chinese sailors, took off toward another end of the beach earlier, I don't know if they even know about the attack since they haven't come back yet. As for Pintel, Ragetti, Murtogg, and Mullroy...they were here, yes, but I think the two soldiers convinced the other pair to come help them look for Miss. Swann."

Will grunted and Captain Barbossa nodded as he remarked, "Yes, and wherever Elizabeth is, I'm sure that's where she'll find Jack...they can handle themselves, especially with the help of that foursome, though I wish that Gibbs could come back with his force, we need the extra aid."

Tia Dalma opened her eyes and informed him, "He and my sister will come when it is necessary, but they have their own meeting to consider...the ships, can anyone see which is The Flying Dutchman?"

Will shuddered and glanced out at the distant armada, shaking his head as Dalma sighed and settled back into her sleep. At that moment, the Chinese sailor that had been leading their conference stood up and walked over to Barbossa as he told him, "Captain, we have decided that we shall start back here, in wait for the landing party to approach before we charge."

Captain Barbossa nodded and said, "Now that is an excellent plan, and I shall place you in charge of that attack. What is your name?"

The man bowed his head and coolly replied, "You may call me Lin, if you so wish, I was an assistant to my late Captain Sao Feng. I suggest, my Captain, that we should take our positions now...they will land within a few moments."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elizabeth hurried over and bent down, checking Jack's pulse and breathing...both were faint, but he still lived, although the worse for wear from dehydration and starvation. She carefully checked to see that his sword, his pistol, his compass (which she thought of as 'the Compass of Want' as Sao Feng had called his invention), and his hat were secure before she attempted to lift him from his armpit. Elizabeth grunted as she started dragging Captain Jack Sparrow out of the cave, careful that he wouldn't bang himself too badly on the rocks, though she couldn't help it when his boots dragged themselves through the water. The most important thing was to get him out into fresh air, away from the damp chill of this cave, and where she could have space to care for him...yet he wasn't exactly lightweight and she feared that she might drop him if she got too exhausted.

Suddenly, she heard some distant voices outside the cave and Elizabeth paused, shifting Jack's weight as she cried, "Hello! I'm in the cave, I need help with Jack!"

In turn, she heard Ragetti's voice yell, "Fellows! She's in here and she says she's got Jack!"

Elizabeth sighed in relief and waited as the four fellows, Ragetti and Murtogg along with Pintel and Mullroy, all entered the cave and squeezed themselves through to her, glancing down at Jack as Murtogg said, "Right, Miss. Swann. I think you can let me and Ragetti lift him up between us, that'll be best."

Elizabeth slowly nodded and transferred Jack carefully into their hands, checking to see that they had a good, yet gentle grip on him before she took the lead alongside Mullroy and Pintel as they progressed out of the grotto. Out in the air, Elizabeth inhaled deeply and glanced around, waving her hand toward a clearing beyond the tide-line as their destination. However, before they could reach it, they had to make their way over and around the slippery rocks and, several times during this trip, they almost dropped Jack despite their best efforts, but Elizabeth was on hand to help catch him in time.

In World's End, the dead pirates stared as Captain Jack Sparrow flailed around on the deck of The Black Pearl, sliding sometimes, as if being pulled or hefted by invisible hands. Several times, he yelped and seemed to waver, but grunted as he became steady again.

Captain Sao Feng shook his head and asked, "What is going on, Jack?"

Jack managed to say, "They're carrying me, though it's awkward...I think that I fall sometimes."

Cotton arched his eyebrows and queried, "Who is on hand to catch?"

Captain Jack Sparrow cleared his throat and said nothing, though Governor Weatherby Swann sighed and shrugged...he could not disapprove and perhaps this would be a good practice for their married life in trusting each other.

At last, they reached the clearing and they laid Jack on the ground, getting a good look at him in the sunlight...Pintel inhaled deeply and muttered, "It looks bad, Miss, I can't say how he's managed to last this long."

Mullroy slowly nodded and inquired, "How can we treat him and restore him to health, when we have no medicine or food at hand and we are threatened?"

Elizabeth sighed and murmured, "With our hearts, as my father told me in his final words."

With that, she sat down on the ground beside the still captain, stroking his forehead as she recited these words to Captain Jack Sparrow:

"Poor wandering spirit,

Though thou hast surely strayed,

In blood water and in grim desert,

On your allegiance we've a stronger claim

And steps will retrace with the tide.

For if such poor love as mine,

Sighing softly to the river, can help thee,

Take heart of grace and guidance,

It is thine with the loving sea breeze,

Bringing the tide to the grim desert,

So sail back and fair days will shine for us."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Finally, Captain Jack Sparrow's movement settled down and he was lying on his back, staring up at the mast while the sailors stepped forward, but Teague Sparrow held up his hand and hissed, "Give him space and be silent! Listen, I think there are people talking."

They did hear first one, and then another male voice speaking gruffly in the air and the former crew of The Flying Dutchman and of The Empress glanced around, confused by what was going on, yet with the first voice, Cotton murmured, "I...I think that is Pintel."

Weatherby lifted his head with the second voice and remarked, "That is one of those soldiers that was with me at my death, they were loyal."

Meanwhile, Jack winced and closed his eyes, feeling so chilled and yet hot...he vaguely could see rough faces hovering over him, but there was a wisp of hair, a gentle touch on his forehead, and she spoke. He strained to hear, not knowing that the spirits on The Black Pearl had finally all grown quiet and still, tense for a moment, but then they relaxed at "Poor wandering spirit", knowing she spoke to them in this "grim desert". Jack opened his eyes after a moment, and her voice still echoed here in the distorted desert now, even louder...he stood up at the "steps" and waited, waited for the key.

"For if such poor love as mine..."

Jack shook his head, it wasn't poor for someone like him,

"...can help thee..."

Jack nodded and murmured, "We both have what we need in each other..."

"It is thine with the loving sea breeze,"

As the sails in this grim, airless desert suddenly rippled, growing taut with the force of a salty wind blowing against them, straining to move The Black Pearl from its stiff perch,

"Bringing the tide to the grim desert..."

Something splashed against the ship and Captain Sao Feng gasped as he rushed over to the rail, looking down as he cried, "Water! It's welling up from the sand, it's swelling up to a foot right now and rising!"

Governor Weatherby Swann chuckled and glanced off toward port as he exclaimed, "I think I see something in the distance! It looks like an island! Jack, we'll reach it soon enough! Come, come...Jack?"

For as Governor Swann turned back around, to gaze at the space where Captain Jack Sparrow had just been standing a moment ago, his arms spread apart and smelling the breeze, he found that Jack had vanished. The other pirates and sailors hadn't really noticed, flocking over to watch the tide rise and bear them off or to look out towards the island, pointing out other ships approaching in the distance, but Wheelback had lingered back and now he turned his head toward Swann.

Governor Weatherby Swann appealed to him, "Sir, did you see what happened to Jack?"

Wheelback shook his head, but replied, "I do not think he is here...his body was elsewhere and now he's gone back to that and to your daughter. Let's make due course towards the nearest shore of that island and mayhap we'll see him soon."


	15. Norrington's Misadventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Norrington gets involved with pirates...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original disclaimer (this was written after Christmas 2006): 'Did you get a Pirate in your stocking? I got a Pirate in my stocking, so does that mean I own them? Nope, Disney does...I hope they got a lump of coal yesterday.'

The armada of the East India Company, after sailing as close to the shore of the island as possible, anchored themselves as their soldiers and sailors packed themselves into the longboats and the rowboats to storm the beach. After making an appearance amongst his men, Commodore James Norrington slipped away as soon as possible, heading up to the quarterdeck as he sat down, hidden from sight behind the rail as the parrot formerly belonging to the late Cotten soared down to land on his shoulder. Norrington sighed and started to pet the parrot when suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.

Norrington gasped and cried, "Bootstrap Bill! Don't startle me like that!"

The parrot flapped his wings and squawked, "Bootstrap Bill!"

Bootstrap blinked and stared down at the parrot as he remarked, "Well, Norrington, I can see the truth of your alliance with me and my captain Davy Jones. You are an honest pirate now and I suppose I should congratulate you...though you do know that you're about to enter a hard life?"

Norrington slowly nodded and replied, "I've seen the harsh pirate life before, I was part of Captain Jack Sparrow's crew even if I wasn't honestly a pirate then, but now I've seen how corrupted my life has already become even when I'm not involved in piracy. Perhaps I should let myself feel its hard life if it'll allow me to be a better man than I am now. That is why I joined you, that is why I'm helping you both...now, how are we doing this? Beckett is going to call Davy Jones onto the beach, so the two of us will follow them, right?"

Bootstrap shook his head and told him, "Davy Jones cannot step on dry land for many years, not even as much as Cutler Beckett may try to squeeze and contort his heart to get him to come. Davy's plan is that the two of us will go on land together, right at this moment, or else he might be tempted by his tortured pain to send me to Beckett instead."

Norrington frowned and asked, "Uh...how could I possibly travel with you when I don't have your powers?"

Boostrap smiled and, grabbing Norrington's arm, he cried, "Like this"!

Norrington screamed and felt himself stretched and bent, funneled with time and space flashing past his eyes, tightly gripped and then hurled onto the ground. The parrot immediately flew off, he wasn't the worse for wear...Commodore James Norrington sighed to himself and turned to face Bootstrap Bill, standing in the sand next to him, grinning down at him.

Norrington sighed and muttered, "You just did that to me as a little punishment, for the heart...right?"

Bootstrap slowly nodded, but he replied, "Well, after such a hectic trip like that, I suppose I can be easy with you from now on. Need a hand to help you up?"

Norrington shook his head and grunted as he pushed himself onto his feet, wobbling slightly after that disconcerting little trip, and glanced around for a moment to get his bearings. He was on the island, just above the tide-line and in front of a grove of trees, but he couldn't see the ships out in the harbor. He frowned for a moment and shielded his eyes, checking the position of the sun to discover that he was actually on the other side of the island.

Norrington turned to face Bootstrap and yelled, "You dropped us off too far away! The pirates and the East India Company are about to fight back there and we're farther from getting back the heart of Davy Jones than we ever were!"

Bootstrap groaned and gazed around as he murmured, "This can't be right, I've never done this wrong before...I suppose I was so distracted with giving you a rotten time that I overshot the perfect mark. Never mind, I can take us back."

Norrington shook his head and bellowed, "No! I'm never going through that again, it was too horrid! We'll just hike through the jungle, no matter how long it takes, but that'll serve you right!"

Bootstrap winced and whispered, "Uh, I suppose that's understandable, Norrington, but you shouldn't yell that loudly."

Norrington frowned and inquired, "Why not?"

Suddenly, the bushes parted nearby and 5 Cantonese pirates sprang out, forming a tight circle around Bootstrap Bill and Commodore James Norrington as Joshameee Gibbs and Anamaria wandered into the circle. Norrington sighed and rubbed his forehead, while cursing himself for an idiot, though he couldn't help staring at Anamaria even as she glared at him, though she barely noticed Bootstrap since he had slipped behind James.

Gibbs stepped forward and queried, "Norrington, is that you? Aye, though what are you doing here?"

Bootstrap hesitated, but he finally stepped out from behind Norrington, showing himself as he slowly shook his head and told him, "No, but we did come from there, as you can tell from my present form...but we do not wish to be your foe."

Gibbs gasped and Anamaria stared at Bootstrap Bill as she murmured, "So, you must be Bootstrap Bill, Will's father...your face looks like him a little. I trust you when you say that you don't wish to be our foe, but I cannot trust your actions as a prisoner of Davy Jones, now under the sway of the East India Company. As for your companion, Commodore James Norrington, I'm far less likely to trust him. No, I hardly think there is anything in this world that will convince us to trust you both...Chen, instruct your men to dispatch them."

Commodore James Norrington sighed and wondered what was worst, being so misunderstood and condemned when he had already seen the error of his ways or having such a lovely, exotic woman be the one to sentence him to death. He closed his eyes, as Chen approached, and muttered to his companion, "Well, I suppose you can't find a way out of this for me, Bootstrap Bill?"

Bootstrap shrugged when suddenly, from above, they heard the parrot screech, "Bootstrap Bill!"

Chen and his fellow countrymen halted while Gibbs and Anamaria gasped and gaped at each other before they turned to watch in amazement as old Cotten's parrot glided down to land onto Norrington's shoulders. The parrot cooed at the commodore before he turned to snap at the Cantonese sailors that had been circling around them. Chen shrugged and glanced over at Gibbs and Anamaria, who both frowned at the disconcerting sight, but they waved the sailors back. Chen relayed the orders in Cantonese and the Chinese pirates sheathed their swords, stepping off to the side as Anamaria and Gibbs strode forward toward Bootstrap and James. Bootstrap bowed his head while Norrington petted the parrot, eternally grateful as he started to consider that this bird might even be a good companion.

Gibbs cleared his throat and queried, "Uh...when did old Cotten's parrot come to you, Norrington?"

Norrington slowly nodded and responded, "He came to me early this morning, before dawn...after the storm. I do not know how such a little parrot managed to survive, flying in those winds, and…I suspect the worst must have occurred to his former master. This bird sought shelter with me and I will give him that, though I do not know what to name him or...if he had a name, before. I want to be true in that regard."

Anamaria sighed and murmured, "Not as far as we knew, Cotten certainly couldn't say it and the bird… was just a mouth as far as we were concerned. The parrot probably was never given a name if the poor old pirate took him in to serve him after his lost his tongue. In any case, this certainly does change things a little...we shall not harm you, but we must know everything. Why are you two here? Has the armada already arrived?"

Bootstrap lowered his head and replied, "Aye, the armada has already reached this island, on the far side...some of your fellow mates were there on that beach waiting, as far as I could see, though I could not discern whether any of them was my son or not. As for why we are here...well, in truth, we missed our mark-we were trying to reach the other beach instead, but not to further aid the East India Company. No, we wanted to create our own chance, however slim, of relinquishing the heart of Davy Jones from Lord Cutler Beckett."

Gibbs grunted and muttered, "Well, that may not help the East India Company, but how does that bode for us? I am doubtful that Davy wouldn't lash out at us, for the ills that we brought about and for his spiteful being...he has kept you, Bootstrap, and other pirates in miserable slavery to him and then damned them to his Locker."

Bootstrap shook his head and told them, "Ah, can you not realize how this whole event has affected Davy Jones, the tortures he knows now with another man possessing and holding, squeezing his heart and forcing him to do his bidding? I have seen his malice withered, in truth, these last few days...he came to know the state of bondage and I do not know whose pity was greater, Davy for his crew or his crew for Davy. In those first two days, after Cutler Beckett contacted him and revealed his possession of the heart, he brooded in his private quarters, staring and tapping at the keys on his organ while constantly winding and playing the seashell locket of Calypso."

Anamaria blinked and glanced off into the distance, thinking that for as far back as she could remember, many years, she had occasionally spotted her half-sister Tia Dalma clutching such a locket. She had never asked her about it, yet now that she understood Dalma's heritage, Anamaria started to sense that for all of this time, Dalma had been trying to come to terms with it. Such a thing had obviously been hard for her to do, considering the madness of that love that had doomed such powerful beings and had brought about her own existence. It was a chilling thought, to imagine that Dalma had been so lost and weary in pain and anger at such a young age, and had even managed to keep it a secret from her little half-sister, who was also a child of Calypso. Anamaria winced slightly, still unused to that thought, and moodily considered that Dalma had, perhaps, been better able to sympathize with the paradox and madness of love, when she had stolen Captain Jack Sparrow from Anamaria for a brief spell, but that certainly wouldn't have resolved all of Dalma's resentment.

Meanwhile, Gibbs whispered, "Go on with your tale, Bootstrap, I sense you hesitate now for some reason...what happened afterwards?"

Bootstrap turned to stare out at the sea as he explained, "Davy soon left his private quarters, he had to when Beckett called him to sail to Tortuga. He was still somber until...until he deliberately lied at Liar's Dice on one late afternoon, just as the sun started to set. It's our loophole, you know, to bet our years of servitude when we play that game...everyone who was able or free rushed over and, one by one, Davy Jones released them all to the afterlife, not to damnation in his Locker. However, I couldn't be released, not when I had already lost a game in which I laid stakes that I would serve Davy for all eternity to save my son, and there was another named Wyvern who is attached to the ship itself. With all of this, Davy Jones has changed, and he sent me out to contact Norrington soon afterwards when the commodore had appeared to be sympathetic to our terrible state."

Norrington quickly nodded and turned to face Anamaria as he asked her, "Now, please...what is your name, lady?"

Anamaria stared at him and answered, "Anamaria."

Commodore James Norrington sighed softly, but then he went on, "We haven't got much time left, Anamaria, we need to reach the beach as soon as possible to get back the heart while there's still opportunity. Lead us back, the way you came, we'll fight alongside you all in the fray, but only until we get a clear chance to attack Lord Cutler Beckett."

Anamaria glanced away towards the tropical foliage and murmured, "Come on, Gibbs, let's show them the way back...and everyone, be prepared to fight the moment we reach our destination."

The parrot on Norrington's shoulder bobbed his head and cried, "Swords and pistols! Got a sword, Bootstrap Bill?"

Bootstrap grimly grinned and replied, "I've got one and I'm going to use it, one last time."

James Norrington blinked and stared at Bootstrap, but he couldn't ask him about what he meant as they all set off, striding into the shadows of the grove, heading towards what awaited them in battle.


	16. The Return

Pintel, Ragetti, Murtogg, and Mullroy glanced at each other and bowed their heads, touched by the tender words that Elizabeth had spoken for Captain Jack Sparrow, but they were sorrowful that such prose couldn't reverse his poor state. Meanwhile, Elizabeth had inhaled deeply when she finished her recitation and closed her eyes, the stillness undisturbed except for a soft breeze, as she bit her lips with a sob stuck in her throat. Yet suddenly, she heard a sharp, collective gasp from the four fellows surrounding her and Jack and she opened her eyes, which were instantly riveted upon the sight of one of Jack's fingers twitching...she reached down and grasped his hand, feeling new warmth in that touch, rubbing softly as if she hoped that such stimulus might stir him. Indeed, within a few moments, she felt his hand clutch hers and his head shook as his eyes started to flutter.

Elizabeth managed to smile as Jack's eyes opened, staring up at her with a slight grin, and then she swallowed before she whispered, "Hello, Jack...can you speak?"

Jack lightly pulled Elizabeth's hand towards him and kissed it as he replied, "Hello, luv, I think I can speak just fine."

Elizabeth inhaled and managed to murmur, "Oh, Jack...what about the rest of you, can you move?"

Captain Jack Sparrow let go of her hand and grunted as he slowly managed to push himself up into a sitting position, shaking his legs as he told her, "I think I'm fine in all the right places, my stomach's a little sore, but I did have some grass and rainwater while I was here. What about you, Elizabeth, how are you faring?"

Elizabeth blinked, unable to recall a time when Jack had ever asked someone about their well-being, but she answered, "I...I have been better, but I'm managing well enough. Still, I cannot...I cannot stand what I did to you, to have caused all of this, I am sorry, but I don't know how-"

Jack shook his head and explained, "Now listen, you don't have to say anymore than is necessary...you have already apologized. You did what you considered best for all, for the crew, and I cannot grudge you that, especially when I am still here and now free...my stint in World's End allowed me to have my soul back. Now, first things first...what are these two soldiers doing here?"

Mullroy bowed his head and informed him, "Captain, we are no longer soldiers, we are pirates under your and Elizabeth's service. In Port Royal, we were witnesses to the cruelty of Lord Beckett when he...he caused the death of Governor Swann."

Jack slowly nodded and sighed, though Elizabeth frowned when she wondered why he didn't seem surprised...at last, Captain Jack Sparrow muttered, "Right then, welcome to my crew. All right then, where are the others?"

Murtogg cleared his throat and responded, "We do not know where all of them are for sure, but we know that a few are down the beach that way, at the place where we were washed ashore from last night's hurricane...and they are probably already engaged in battle. A few minutes ago, we saw the armada of the East India Company approaching this island, with The Flying Dutchman sailing alongside them as Lord Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones in his control."

Ragetti sighed and murmured, "'Tis a dire situation, captain, and we have no hope of fending them off."

Jack frowned and suddenly gasped as he staggered onto his feet, mumbling, "Oh, bugger it all, I completely forgot about them...I hope they made it all the way through...where did they end up?"

Pintel blinked and queried, "Hang on, Captain Jack, what's bothering you?"

Captain Jack Sparrow took a few steps forward, testing out his stride, before he spun around awkwardly to face them as he said, "Come on, all of you, follow me and you'll see."

He spun back around and strode off while Elizabeth Swann gasped and slowly stood off before she groaned and took off after him, now feeling slightly annoyed as the four pirates shrugged and followed after them to see what would happen next. Jack carefully walked amongst the slippery rocks, glancing out at the ocean, as he suddenly paused and smiled, now racing down into the surf as he waved his arms and then waved his hat, calling out as Elizabeth and the four fellows jogged up to stand alongside him. Before they could ask him about his odd activity, they saw a ship with black sails, out in the distance, turn around and sail towards them.

Elizabeth shook her head and asked, "This can't be right...The Black Pearl was dragged down to the depths by the Kraken, how could it have come back?"

Jack turned to face her as he answered, "It came back with me, from World's End...the words that you spoke, Elizabeth, were more potent there than you could ever imagine. In that purgatory, it was the grim desert, but then...it was awash with the sea, this ocean, and now The Black Pearl and all of those aboard it have returned, for a short while, to help us fight."

Elizabeth stared at him and said, "What...do you mean by 'all of those aboard it?"

Throughout this time, The Black Pearl had been quickly approaching their beach while Pintel, Ragetti, Mullroy and Murtogg had shielded their eyes to see who steered, and now Murtogg cried out, "Sao Feng! I see Captain Sao Feng up there!"

Ragetti gasped and took out his wooden eye, rubbing it as he whispered, "I just saw Cotten, I swear I did...they're all ghosts, the men sailing The Black Pearl at this moment."

Elizabeth blinked and gazed up at Captain Jack, feeling a premonition...he slowly nodded and pointed, so she turned around and looked out toward the shadowy form of the ship approaching, toward the figures of two old fellows standing at the rail on the starboard side, her eyes riveted at the sight of the gentleman with the big wig...her father, her poor father.

Meanwhile, The Black Pearl was maneuvering itself through the shallows, turning about so that the starboard side would face Captain Jack Sparrow and the others standing in the surf while more pirate and sailor spirits gathered at that rail, though Governor Weatherby Swann and Teague Sparrow still stood at the head of the crowd.

Governor Swann stared down at his daughter, the tide washing against her ankles as she gazed up tearfully, and he called out, "My dear Elizabeth! It's good to see you well, my daughter!"

Elizabeth Swann wiped her eyes and cried, "It's good to see you too, father...I wish I could have been there in your last moments, to give you comfort, to say what needed to be said...if only I could have prevented it! Oh, I shouldn't dwell on it and I know that your return will only be for a short while, for as long as it takes to get rid of Beckett in this battle, but at least it gives me the chance to see you again, to say good-bye."

Murtogg and Mullroy saluted their former governor while Weatherby saluted in turn and Teague, leaning against the rail and gazing down at Jack and Elizabeth, softly smiled and exclaimed, "Guv'nor, I must say you have a wonderful daughter and I'm proud to see her with my son, they make a lovely couple."

Ragetti blinked and asked Pintel, "Wait a minute, did that fellow call Jack his son?"

Meanwhile, Jack and Elizabeth glanced at each and grinned as they grasped hands while Captain Sao Feng sighed and bellowed, "Excuse me, Captain Jack, it seems to me that there is a little problem to our former plans! If you haven't noticed, your ship isn't exactly solid, it's a spirit just like the rest of us, and I'm afraid that neither you nor your living companions can come aboard to help us in the attack! What are your plans now?"

Captain Jack Sparrow blinked and slowly turned away from Elizabeth, staring at the shadowy Black Pearl as he let go of her hand and staggered forward into the surf, reaching out to what he could never touch again as he queried, "No, it can't be...did I really go through all of that and I can't even return to tread its boards or turn her wheel for real in life?"

On the ship, Teague growled and shouted, "Ah, me son, did ya learn nothing from those trials? No, it has never been the ship itself that mattered to you, it was the idea of her and how you brought her to life, summed up in how you named her...from a once terrible ship, you released poor souls in bondage and once you resurrected this ship to a new form, a new occupation, you named her The Black Pearl both to honor those souls and your own mother. This ship was just your freedom, Jack, on the open sea, yet you weren't completely free even when you had The Black Pearl...yet now that you have lost her, you have gained so much more than just freedom."

Jack lowered his hands and awkwardly turned his back on the ghost of his old ship, gazing at Elizabeth as he murmured, "Oh...you're right, father. I have my soul and I have what I need most in the world."

Elizabeth brushed back some of her hair, uncertain of what to say, while back on the ship, Maccus groaned and roared, "We're wasting time here, we need to end Beckett's tyranny as soon as possible before any more souls are lost!"

Jack quickly nodded and spun back around, pointing at Captain Sao Feng as he told him, "Right then, as the most able-bodied seaman onboard right now I'll let you be boss...first off, the armada is down that way, so sail further out into the ocean and then turn about and attack them from the rear, that'll help us out on the beach. Try to get rid of a couple of the ships, but leave the main ship with Beckett fairly untouched, we need to retrieve the heart of Davy Jones after all. Once you've caused enough damage, try to slip away from the armada and dock the ship close by the main landing ship, then swarm out and help us on the beach and wherever else. Is that understood?"

Cotten nodded and turned to the other pirates as he bellowed, "To your stations, men, and if more than one fellows have the same position, get the extras to take position, battle-ready! Practice your moves while we sail out, we'll experiment on what sort of damage we can cause as ghosts once the situation calls for it!"

Pintel gasped and yelled, "Cotten! You can talk! What happened to your parrot?"

Cotten turned and cried, "Old friends, what was lost has been returned to me! As for that old bird, I released him during the storm! If any of you can find him, I bid you to take good care of my faithful companion! Farewell, let's move out!"

Teague Sparrow and Governor Weatherby Swann waved good-bye as The Black Pearl sailed off, back out into the sea, with Captain Jack Sparrow sighing for a moment before he turned about and trudged back up the surf while Elizabeth, Pintel, Ragetti, Murtogg and Mullroy stared out for a few more moments. As Jack passed by them, Mullroy cleared his throat and waved his hand as the other three set off alongside the former soldier in the lead, while Elizabeth walked alongside Jack behind them.

Elizabeth rubbed Jack on the back and whispered, "Thank you for giving me the chance to see him again...I'm sorry you can't go back."

Captain Jack Sparrow shook his head and turned his head as he informed her, "I can go on without The Black Pearl, especially if you'll be traveling with me in my pirate life...I don't like to mention this, but what about Will?"

Elizabeth pulled Jack back, causing him to lean down enough for her to kiss him before she murmured, "We both realized that a life together could never work out for us...once this is done, Will shall return back to a simple life as a blacksmith in England and I'll be a pirate with you."

Jack grinned and gently muttered, "Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me. Come on, my Swann, we've got some fighting to do together, whatever will come."


	17. A Word with Davy Jones

Mercer held a telescope up to his eye as Lord Cutler Beckett, with his casket chest containing the heart of Davy Jones tucked into his armpit, queried, "How are things forming?"

Mercer lowered the telescope and responded, "At this point, the longboats from The Dauntless are setting out, with the longboats from Admiral Smith's Malcolm's Maid already landing on the beach...soon enough, we shall set out with the sailors on our ship when the passage is clear."

Beckett nodded and held out his hand, as Mercer handed the telescope to him and the lord had his own look at the array...suddenly, he frowned and muttered, "I'm looking at the line of longboats from The Dauntless and on the deck of the ship itself, but I don't see a sign of Commodore Norrington anywhere. Mercer, did you see him before?"

Mercer shrugged and leaned against the rail as he replied, "I did, a few minutes ago, but your eyesight is excellent, my lord...if you cannot see him now, then something has gone wrong and he has disappeared. My Lord Beckett, if I might be so bold, it has seemed to me that Norrington was a bit regretful at our last face-to-face meeting...I think he did not favor aiding us any longer. Could he be gone now to hatch a plot?"

Beckett growled and opened the chest as he told him, "Mercer, as always, your analysis is on the spot and I feel that if he has formed a plot, it would have been with Davy Jones. I shall call him now and question him...plus, I have to get him to lead an assault with his own 'men'."

Lord Cutler Beckett grasped the heart and gave it a squeeze as suddenly, there was a sharp pop and from behind him, he heard Davy Jones exclaim, "Aye, my lord, why have you brought me here? I thought you would be having a grand time, going out on shore with your crew to fight, yet here you are still on board your ship and now you've called me, probably to battle those foolhardy pirates in your stead! What sort of courtly coward would do such a thing?"

Lord Beckett sighed and poked the heart as he turned around, to see the satisfying sight of the powerful Davy Jones, might of the sea and the plague upon the souls of all honest and dishonest sailors, wincing at that touch. Of course, Davy could only stand there, several feet away from Beckett and the chest, unable to stride forward and snatch it away while stabbing the lord in the same way as the man had stabbed his own heart...what force could save a mortal pierced that way, especially one disfavored by any ancient demigod of sea or land?

Still, Cutler's will still held sway over the heart, and so Davy could only suffer the pain for now as the lord replied, "I am no courtly coward, Davy Jones, I have destroyed the reputations and the lives of many men without remorse, I have advanced the wealth of Britain and my own power during my tenure as the head of the East India Company, making headway in such heathen and untamed places as Africa, India, and China. Of course, we are still quite far from establishing colonies in those places, we can only continue with some small level trade in trinkets and slaves, but I realized awhile ago that we shall have to find some way to develop our conquest abilities all the same. So, I decided then that the best training ground for the future was here in the Caribbean, where despite some promising settlements as Port Royal, there were still eyesores in chaotic islands like Tortuga, so far out of the jurisdiction of any nation that they have become the breeding ground for pirates. Now the East India Company must finish what was begun by Christopher Columbus all those years ago...the Caribbean must be completely civilized and in order to do that, we must get rid of the rogue elements, the so-called 'native' pirates."

Davy Jones stared in horror at Lord Beckett and muttered, "You're mad, can you not see what that what you plan is impossible? The Caribbean can never be tamed, not in such places as this Bermuda Triangle, not with such spirits as those that haunt my locker. Yet you keep on, unable to see this, dooming so many souls in your narrow-minded quest for absolute power, seeing only the coins, but coins that curse all...the East India Company would have the world if nothing stands in their way, they would erase all of humanity if that would leave no obstacle to total power and control! Oh, I was wrong, you're no courtly coward...you're a monster, but less than that, the head of the monster, the eye of the monster, the pinkie itself with your puny height! Yet we see you, Beckett, we see the monster behind you, but not just the spirits can see you, the pirates can as well...those people on that island may be few, but they have eyes and voices and hands, to cry out in battle as they fight, using their eyes to aim straight at you! Today may not end well for us, but the pirates are out there now...the pirates have come out of the shadows because the monsters have chased them out...and now the pirates are ready to challenge the monsters."

Lord Cutler Beckett grinned and shifted the chest tight against him, using his other hand to point at Davy Jones as he cried, "Aha! Your words reveal the conspiracy set against me, you sympathize with those pirates even when they were the first to dare steal your heart, and now you have aligned yourself into giving them aid! Mercer, are you getting this down?"

Davy Jones spun about and saw that Mercer, having folded and laid aside the telescope on a table that was kept on the deck of The Spear for daily administrative duties, was now leaning over this table, a feather pen firmly gripped in his hand as he quickly finished up his shorthand diction of Davy's words, dipping the pen back into a crusty inkwell as he replied, "Yes, my lord. Now, Mr. Davy Jones, we shall proceed: have you ever contacted Commodore, formerly Admiral, James Norrington on grounds of influencing him to serve your cause?"

Davy sighed and turned to face Lord Beckett as he boldly told them, "Aye, I did indeed send one of my most trusted, and one of my last few men for that matter, to visit Norrington for his aid."

Lord Beckett frowned and queried, "What do you mean by one of your last few men?"

Davy nodded and responded, "Do you remember when your armada caught up with me just the other day, how my Flying Dutchman had been floating still in the water for so long? That wasn't just because I didn't feel like budging during those days, no, it was also because there weren't enough hands to get her moving straight-away. You see, I have loopholes in my contracts of service with the souls that worked my ship and, just a few evenings before you found me, I had released almost all of them to the afterlife through these loopholes. Now I have about 2 sailors left, Bootstrap Bill and a fellow named Wyvern, who cannot be called upon to budge from his post in any case since his post is the ship itself...you might say he's now integral to the structure now, The Flying Dutchman would break apart and crumble to dust on the water if he was sent on his way."

As Lord Beckett fumed over this, Mercer wrote down the last words before he glanced up and, for the sake of the accounts, he inquired, "Is that the same Bootstrap Bill as William Turner Senior?"

Davy Jones bowed his head toward Mercer and muttered, "That's right, the very same fellow, he is a good pirate."

Cutler growled and bellowed, "Never mind them now, there's no reason why we should use up manpower to retrieve Norrington and this Bootstrap when we have a battle to take care of! As for you, Davy Jones, I order you to enter the battle and lead the attack of the main landing party!"

Davy shook his head and informed him, "No, that's just not possible...I may have forgotten to mention this, but when I was first transformed into my form, a limitation was placed upon me, so that I couldn't abuse my power, that I could only set foot on dry land for only the span of a day every 10 years. And, unfortunately for you, such an opportunity will not arise for many years to come...you hold my heart, my lord, surely you can tell that I do not lie about that at least."

Lord Cutler Beckett slammed the lid of the casket-chest shut, causing Davy Jones to groan now that his heart was shut away from him, and said, "Yes, I can tell that you do not lie, much as I hate how this will affect my plans. You may go back to your ship, I will call upon you after we finish this battle...unless there is any way you could fire cannonballs onto the beach?"

Davy Jones smiled and exclaimed, "The Flying Dutchman may be able to sail underwater, but we cannot handle shallows too well and the range of our cannons is hardly sufficient to fire upon the pirates, a same limit that surely plagues you and the rest of your armada as well! I'll see you later, Lord Cutler Beckett, though I hope it will be under more...advantageous time."

With that, the legendary figure disappeared as Lord Beckett rolled his eyes in disapproval before he tossed the casket over toward Mercer, who managed to catch it in time, as he yelled, "You're staying onboard and you'll be keeping Davy's heart until I return! I'll be leaving in a few more minutes...I just hope that they don't completely annihilate the pirates before I land because I still would want my chance to take a few down, especially if Norrington should be among them, the wretched fool turning pirate on my watch!"


	18. The First Foray

While this exchange had been going on with Lord Cutler Beckett and Davy Jones, the score of sailors and soldiers from Malcolm's Maid, led by Admiral Smith, had beached their longboats and rowboats onto the main landing beach. They had leaped out of their boats, quickly crouching as they pushed the boats forward to form a barricade as they squatted in the surf, waiting for a moment. When there was no initial attack, Admiral Smith signaled and several sailors grasped one of the boats and dragged it forward, to serve as a mini-barricade, while the rest fanned out ahead, marching forward with their muskets clutched in their hands. Meanwhile, Admiral Smith glanced down at the bayonet point mounted on his musket, checking to see that its point was well sharpened, but at least he always had his sword sheathed at his side so that he could use it should the bayonet prove ineffective. When they had advanced further up the beach past the tide-line, Admiral Smith whistled sharply and the royal marines crouched, aiming their muskets into the tree-line. Within the grove, the Cantonese sailors were similarly spread out, though under cover of dense bushes, while the Caribbean pirates were gathered beneath a tree at a point where they could see out toward the middle of the beach and the figure of Admiral Smith.

Captain Hector Barbossa squinted at the sight of the fellow and muttered, "Huh, so that is the infamous Admiral James Norrington...no wonder Elizabeth broke off her first relationship with him."

Will Turner sighed and shook his head as he corrected, "No, that's not Norrington, I can tell that even from this far away...this is another man, though I know not why Lord Beckett has passed on the command of the East India Company's armada from Norrington to this stranger when he had regained his supposed honor for retrieving Davy's heart for Beckett. Now I am uncertain as to the course that this stranger will take in his attack against us...whether or not he will be aggressive in this attack from a hatred of us pirates, but then again, as the lord has appointed him commander, perhaps that should not be the source of any doubt."

Tia Dalma, still lounging against the tree as Marty tended to her in her weak state, muttered, "Ah, my good Will, you are perhaps not the best judge as to the reason why Norrington has been removed from his command...you were unconscious during the encounter that Elizabeth and a few of the others, who are not present with us, had with the former Admiral...I was not there either, but Elizabeth told me everything about that meeting and since then, I have considered the events and now this new commander gives me proof to my theory. Perhaps the reason why Norrington has been removed from power is because he has changed...he let you all go, did he not? There was no reason, except for the pleas that Elizabeth made to him, but which may have shown Norrington the error of his ways...perhaps it is the same as it was with Captain Sao Feng. You witnessed his final moments, Will, how he repented...though there are some true villains in the Caribbean, corrupted to the pit of their souls like Lord Cutler Beckett, I do not think that Norrington is like them. Do you think he has been so completely corrupted?"

Will, suddenly recalling how Commodore James Norrington had first released Captain Jack Sparrow from the gallows after he and Elizabeth had challenged him, slowly shook his head as Barbossa shrugged and remarked, "Well, never mind that fellow, he is of no use and of no threat to us now...come on, let's charge them, I should dare say that we'll be a match for them."

With that, Captain Hector Barbossa whistled and Lin attempted to fire a pistol, not even sure if the shot would go off properly after being soaked from that hurricane, but it did fire smoothly enough, though it only did hit a private. With that, the 10 Cantonese sailors cried out and sprang out of their separate hiding places, charging forward as several soldiers bellowed and attempted to fire their muskets, some hitting marks, though it caused little effect with the blessing placed upon these Chinese pirates. After that, some of the soldiers were soon confronted and cut down by the pirates while Barbossa and Will joined in the fighting, dueling with such maelstrom force that soon Admiral Smith called out for a retreat. With cover fire, the royal marines retreated back behind the barricades of their boats and Barbossa roared for his own pirates to step back into the tree-line for a break.

As they stepped back, watching the sailors of the East India Company warily, Will Turner suddenly noticed that Marty was with them and not only that, but he was carrying several packs...he soon realized that in the course of the fighting, Marty had managed to slip past the fighters and snatch up the packs of the wounded and the dying for their supplies. Thus, during the break, the pirates had rations and beverages (some water canteens, but mostly flasks of cider and rum) passed around between them, the first nourishment for almost a day, though Will had the good sense to reserve some of the flasks and food to the side, should any of the others return. Even as he did this, he wondered how he would take it, the possibility of Captain Sparrow Jack being alive and then returning alongside Elizabeth...he would manage to get used to it, he knew, he did wish them happiness in their new lives...and he would move on to his new life after all of this, whatever it would be.

Barbossa, now in a good mood with a relatively full stomach, raised his flask and toasted the efforts of both the Cantonese sailors and Marty, the former chatting amiably in their language while Marty tended to Tia Dalma, feeding her as she muttered, "Ah, so the grim desert is saturated, at last, the tide carries away the ship...but this won't do at all, their forms cannot make impact...I shall have to stiffen them, to a solid point...it must work..."

Will frowned as he stared at her, wondering what she was talking about, when suddenly they heard a rustling in the bushes behind them. The Cantonese conversation died down and everyone laid aside their meals as Barbossa stood up, positioning himself in a fighting stance as he yelled, "Show yourselves! Be you friend or foe?"

There was a pause for a moment and then they heard Gibbs' voice call out, "We're friends and allies, no harm, it's just us!"

Marty stood up and shouted, "Joshamee! It's good to hear you!"

With that, some of the bushes were pushed aside and Joshamee Gibbs, followed by Chen and a fellow Cantonese sailor, stepped out as he said, "Aye, and it's good to see all of you...or near enough. How did the battle go?"

Captain Hector Barbossa shrugged and replied, "Well enough, as those that were here when the first attack began are still standing, though there has been only one so far. Ah, well, at least we managed to snatch some refreshments for ourselves! Care for a bite or for something to soothe your thirst?"

Gibbs nodded, but then he sighed and asked, "Well, soon enough...what about Captain Jack Sparrow and the others, have they not come back yet?"

Will Turner shook his head and answered, "No, not yet, Elizabeth set off after him and then those soldiers and Pintel and Ragetti followed...they'll come back. It'll be good to have you and Anamaria, as well as those in your group, help us in this next fight. We should be going up against a new wave of soldiers just landing."

Gibbs glanced back and muttered, "Ah, yes, about that...while the others are still behind me, I should take the time to mention that we have met a couple of people. Now listen, they want to help us and perhaps they can be good allies, seeing as how they...sort of want the same thing we want and how they hate Beckett as well...uh, they are sort of pirates. I just wanted to warn you all so that when you see them, none of you will overreact and attack them, all right?"

Captain Barbossa frowned and queried, "What are you talking about? Who are they and what do you mean by overreacting and attacking them?"

Gibbs opened his mouth when suddenly, there was a thrashing noise behind him and he had to leap out of the way as several Cantonese sailors stormed into the clearing, whipping aside a branch in their way as they muttered to themselves and then to Lin and the others that had just participated in the battle. Tia Dalma glanced up and smiled as everyone then heard the sound of Anamaria yelling and arguing, with another man whose voice that almost all of them didn't recognize, but Will gasped for a moment as he did recognize the voice...yet he couldn't be here, why would he be with them?

Just then, Anamaria's face appeared as she slapped aside the branch and gingerly stepped into the clearing, but then she turned back to yell, "There, I'm out of that mess, and it wasn't a problem for me, not one word of complaint this entire way! But you, you just kept moaning and just had to rip off the buttons on your jacket in your haste to toss it aside, and then you cried out that your wig was too soggy and so you threw that away! All of that may be an improvement, I'll grant, but you didn't have to bemoan everyone and everyone while doing it, you chose to get involved and this is piracy, get used to it!"

At that moment, the former Commodore, though now bereft of rank that he had cast aside with the emblems on his naval jacket, James Norrington stumbled into the clearing, getting his forehead whacked by the branch in the process, as he cried, "My lady, I hardly did moan about all of that, all I did was remark upon the strangeness of my circumstances and then you started taunting me, calling me a weakling and stomping on my relinquished possessions! Oh, you surely never did complain as you were too busy trying to insult me into giving up my new profession! No, I have chosen piracy for my sake and for the sake of others, and I am getting used to it, just give me a few more hours!"

Anamaria glared at Norrington and hissed, "Listen to his fine words, I'm telling you all, he's just too soft to last long! I may have stomped once or twice on his wig in the dirt, but that was nothing compared to what others are going to do to him, I'm just preparing him to face alienation and belligerence from the rest of the world, to face the harsh life and all that it entails! If he can't handle it, then let's just let him go back now!"

However, hardly anyone had been listening to the exchange as they stared at Norrington, at the disarray of his clothes and his natural hair, the assortment of his weapons and his gear, but most especially at the parrot on his shoulder...at last, Lin interrupted the silence and murmured, "Sir, I know little of you except of what others have said, but...you do know whose parrot that belonged to? The old man?"

Norrington glanced at the parrot and rubbed his feather as he replied, "Yes, for though Will and some of the others may not have mentioned it, I was part of their crew for awhile under Captain Jack Sparrow...I know this was Cotten's parrot and I suspect what may have happened to his owner. For this, and for other reasons, I have decided to become a pirate...to amend what I started."

Barbossa gazed at Norrington and slowly nodded while the parrot squawked, "Awk! Bootstrap Bill!"

Barbossa gasped and staggered back, but Will glanced up hopefully and took a few steps forward as, within the moment, the face of Bootstrap suddenly appeared and just as suddenly entered the clearing, moving swiftly and silently in the stooped stance of the forlorn figure. Will sighed and hugged his father, noticing that his slightly chilly flesh felt warmer off of the decks of The Flying Dutchman while Bootstrap Bill awkwardly patted him on the back, wondering why Will seemed just as lonely as he did…but then his eyes were caught by the sight of Captain Barbossa. Bootstrap cleared his throat and lightly released himself from his son's embrace, nodding as he stepped towards Barbossa, who cowered slightly while everyone watched intently.

Bootstrap Bill halted a few inches from the captain as he whispered, "Hello, Hector...it has been many years since we've seen each other, when you tied me down to that cannon and yours was the strongest hand that pushed me out into the sea...dooming me to accept servitude under Davy Jones. I am still cold in the water, Hector, even when the bright sun shines on me...you stand there, having escaped death and even damnation so many times, while your victims haven't your luck at all. Look at me, old friend, is it every day that you meet a fellow that has suffered because of you? Hector, say something."

Barbossa breathed heavily, rubbing his forehead as he muttered, "I see you, Bootstrap Bill, and have seen you many times, in my dreams during my days under the curse of the Aztecs, underneath those waves...I have never truly escaped damnation, not when it came to remembering my victims. Now, I say to you...Bill, I cannot ask forgiveness, but I can do what little you may ask...you and Norrington wish to join our cause? So be it."

Bootstrap Bill raised his finger, pointing at Barbossa's chest as he asked, "And the heart of Davy Jones, my old friend, what say you?"

Barbossa hesitated for a moment before he groaned and answered, "Yes, we will give it back to Davy Jones...whatever else may come of that."

Bootstrap Bill nodded and turned to face Will, who stared in disbelief at his father while the man sighed and indicated a private spot where they might speak for the rest of this interlude. Meanwhile, Norrington sat down beside Barbossa, who was still strained from his conversation with Bootstrap that he listened to the strategies of the former commodore and soon grew appreciative of this new advice and aid from this ally. On the other side of the clearing, Anamaria was sitting beside her sister Dalma, though she was glaring at the sight of her two former enemies, Barbossa and Norrington, conversing in such a way...yet her eyes were soon drawn by the bright plumage of the parrot. Anamaria blinked and, recalling the words that her sister had spoken in the hurricane, she turned to query her by what she meant when she had said that 'you would follow that bird'...but Tia Dalma, having finished her spell, was tired and had drifted off into a nap.


	19. Preludes to the Final Battle

As the ghostly ship sailed away from Captain Jack Sparrow and his group, the early morning mists were starting to fade with the advancing daylight and by the time they had sailed out into the open sea and turned about to circle around the island to sneak behind the armada, the fog had faded away enough so that they could see their forms in the piercing rays of the sun.

Governor Weatherby Swann gasped as he stared through his hands and said, "Oh, my goodness, I hadn't realized how changed I've become in death! We must be a ghastly sight, I just...I just can't imagine how we'll manage to be of any help."

Teague Sparrow slowly nodded, flexing his wisp of a hand as he murmured, "Now, guv'nor, we don't look all that bad...we're still of the same spirit and soul as we were in life, that's one good thing about this...we're just ghostly, not ghastly in the least. I know we look quite weak right now, like a wind could just shred us apart, but I'm certain we can do something to aid them in their battle, perhaps we may even be able to fight...if we can find out whether or not we can grasp or impact anything solid."

High above, they heard Wheelback call out, "Ship dead ahead! Prep the cannons and get ready to fight!"

Ogilvey smiled and turned to his assistants, the Twins, Clanker, Quittance and Crash as he ordered them to load their respective cannons while Penrod helped lug cannonballs over to them. Meanwhile, Maccus and Palifico called out to the other sailors, getting them to line up for the passing out of weapons, while Teague, Weatherby, and Cotten wandered over to the end of the long line.

Cotten stretched and remarked, "One good thing about being a ghost is that I feel pretty limber, you know, like I'm in good shape for a fight...no old pains or anything like that. Say, Governor Swann, are you sure you want to get yourself involved in this upcoming fight? You don't have to pick up a weapon, you know, I suppose you could just stick yourself to the side and stay out of trouble."

Weatherby shook his head and told him, "No, I won't stay out, I'm tired myself of feeling afraid and I'm dead...I suppose I can't really come to any real harm. Besides, I've hardly done anything to help out in this whole affair and I should be of some service, for the sake of my Elizabeth and protecting her future."

Teague raised his head and stared at Governor Swann, thinking for a moment that perhaps they should speak of that possible future as in-laws, when suddenly he blinked and cried, "Guv'nor! You're changing, it's...it's harder to see through you! You're getting solid!"

Weatherby frowned, but when he glanced down at his hands, he laughed and shouted, "Why, you are right! In fact, everyone is becoming more solid, and...I can almost see the wood! What's happening?"

All of the other spirits were examining each other, exclaiming over this change, while Captain Sao Feng strode toward the middle of the deck and waved his hands, getting everyone's attention as he roared, "Listen, I can feel the words in the air, I know what's going on! There was a woman with us, Tia Dalma, I'm sure some of you knew her or at least her reputation! She was traveling with us, with the former crew of Captain Jack Sparrow, and she was the one that brought Captain Hector Barbossa back to life! She is a powerful witch, her powers born from both Davy Jones and the goddess Calypso, and I think she sensed our presence! I believe that what is happening to us spirits is a spell, she is making us solid to enable us to make an impact in our forthcoming attack, and I personally thank her for this service! Back to business, let's get ready to fight and make such a tale of revenge from the lost souls of Lord Cutler Beckettt!"

The pirate spirits cheered and Governor Weatherby Swann felt thrilled, now more certain than ever that he wanted to fight and he gratefully accepted a sword from Maccus, not noticing that Teague and Cotten meaningfully glanced over at each other, both silently agreeing to keep watch over the governor. The Black Pearl soon approached the rearmost ship, whose occupants cried out in horror and were unable to maneuver their ship out of the way in time, so swift was the ghostly ship coming towards them, and so Pearl crashed into the other ship, breaking quite a few boards as the bow even pierced through the deck. Of course, it wasn't quite solid, but it knocked some of the soldiers off of their feet, shocking these agents of the East India Company, yet it wasn't nothing compared to the upset that came upon them when the pirate ghosts swarmed off of The Black Pearl and onto the other, attacking all of these men with such fervor that soon, this ship of the armada was permanently disabled.

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Once everyone had finished eating their breakfast, still with a few bags lying to the side for the absent members, Captain Hector Barbossa and said, "Right then, Lin and Chen, you two can organize your mates for the next fight...from here, I can see that the royal marines from Norrington's ship are landing on the beach right now to replenish the lost forces. Now, this time, we shall attack as quickly as possible, before all of the other longboats can land on the beach, and in full force to gain an element of surprise. As for the rest of us, we shall pair up in our duels to better watch each other's backs. Now, Marty will be a free agent to get more supplies and take care of Tia Dalma while you'll be with me, Joshamee Gibbs. As for you, James Norrington...we do appreciate your aid in switching sides, but we still need to keep watch over you and for that, you'll go with him, Anamaria."

Norrington and Anamaria gasped at the same time and then stared at each other while on the other side of the clearing, Tia Dalma stifled a laugh. With that, Barbossa told everyone to prepare to charge while Will Turner glanced over at Bootstrap Bill, who managed to smile…there had been no need for Barbossa to pair the father and son together.

So a few minutes later, as they crouched down in the bushes, Will turned to Bootstrap and murmured, "It's good to see you, father, I feared for you after what we did to Davy Jones...still, I never could imagine that he would change his ways after so many years tormenting poor souls. Well, whatever else, I'll make sure that we take care of Beckett and get back Davy's heart, for your sake, father. For when he gets his heart back, he'll have to set you free and then we'll go back to England together...we should never have come here. The pirate life was never for us."

Bootstrap's grin faded and he glanced away, deciding not to tell his son the truth of his fate, as he whispered, "Yes, my son, perhaps I should never have become a pirate, not when it brought both of us to such miserable fates. Still, we cannot entirely condemn the Caribbean for this, not when we have seen such beauty and have known such freedom here...I am content. I will be happy to see the shores of my old home again, to feel the peace in such a change, whatever end it will bring me."

Will blinked and stared at Bootstrap Bill, but then he shook his head, his father was just speaking of England, that was all, even if his words were so strangely somber...meanwhile, Captain Barbossa was stretching his arms, growling over his sore muscles as Gibbs muttered, "I know how you feel. I never thought that I would live so long when I joined up with the navy and then I wasted so many years, toiling as a lowly sailor before I was so rudely tossed out, all because of a few drinks. I've enjoyed my time as a pirate, for I have become respected even with my penchant for whiskey and now I see, more than ever, that my fears and my superstitions mean nothing."

Captain Barbossa nodded and told him, "Aye, Gibbs, I cannot believe how old I have become...in my days, I was the toughest and most ruthless pirate in these waters, but that brought me to my death. Yet here I am again, wise to the errors of my ways, and now I wish to make peace. Perhaps this will amend me, even if it'll kill me again."

On the edge of the clearing, Anamaria turned to gaze at James Norrington, who was absent-mindedly rubbing Cotten's parrot, who kept squawking, "Bootstrap Bill!" now and again. Suddenly, he noticed that she was staring and he groaned and cried, "Please, stop staring at me! I'm a pirate, I've got the parrot to prove that I've changed, so why is that so surprising to everyone?"

Anamaria shook her head and replied, "No, it's not just the parrot now...in the jungle, it was hard for me to see you, but when we walked out after you had thrown away your coat and your wig and I finally got another look at you, I couldn't believe my eyes. With the way your hair is so disarrayed, with the way your sword and pistols are so boldly displayed...you know, I have a spare bandanna. You better tie it around your forehead, just so you won't get sunburned up there."

Norrington blinked, unable to think of anything to say as she handed him a blue bandanna that he neatly tied around his forehead, with such quick ease as if he had already done it...he placed his blue tricorn hat back on his head and sat there, still stunned with the effects of his change as his parrot squawked, "Pirate's life for me!"

Soon, Captain Hector Barbossa roared and the pirates raced out onto the beach, launching into a fierce attack as the soldiers scrambled to defend themselves amidst the fury of the talented fighters. Despite the resentment between them, Anamaria and James Norrington proved to be a good fighting team, always wary and each saving the other's life several times. As for the sailors of the Dauntless, they could barely believe their eyes when they saw their former commander...quite a few of them surrendered at once and this second wave of attack soon retreated. Yet even as the pirates slipped back into the jungle, feeling unusually cheerful after another successful battle, the longboats from The Spear were making their way toward the beach with Lord Cutler Beckett sitting at the bow of the lead boat, his chin raised and his cloak flipped to the side as he struck a heroic pose, thinking to himself that the East India Company would soon make a legend out of him...the man that tamed the Pirates of the Caribbean.

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As Captain Sao Feng stood beside the wheel, staring out at their next target while Koleniko piloted the ship toward this second ship in the rear of the armada, Teague Sparrow and Governor Weatherby Swann were standing together, leaning against the wall of the quarterdeck as they stared at nothing. Though they were speaking in different languages, they knew from the words that the former crew of The Flying Dutchman were bragging about their last attacks and they knew from the emphasis, the emotion, and the chuckles of the former crew of 'the Empress were bragging as well.

Finally, Governor Swann sighed and whispered, "I can't believe...I used that sword, back there, I am dead and yet I harmed...I can't handle this."

Teague slowly nodded and told him, "I know how you feel, guv'nor...with my son being the pirate that he is, you've probably forgotten that I was never one. When I was alive, I was just a simple man living in the countryside and drinking. However, ever since my death several years ago, I have seen such things...the afterlife isn't all peace and quiet. I never fought back there, though, this was the first time my hand touched a sword...it's unpleasant, that it is, but I cope with the idea that it has given me a few more minutes of existence on this side. It's not living, oh no…no man should live with nothing except fighting and death, perhaps that is part of the reason why Lord Cutler Beckett is as horrid as he is."

Weatherby helplessly shrugged and remarked, "Perhaps you are right, but I do not know for sure about such mysteries...perhaps we probably shouldn't ponder so much about existence, especially when we must keep in mind that this is only temporary here. Still, I think I shall stay on the ship in this next fight, just to keep myself away from the bloodshed...the only place where we'll really have to give it our all is when we reach the beach."

Teague patted Governor Swann on the back while The Black Pearl speedily approached the second ship, just moments away from launching another fierce attack. Yet time was running out for the pirates on the main landing beach as the third wave of royal marines from The Spear, led by Lord Cutler Beckett himself, landed on the beach.

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The pirates settled down from their quiet celebration in the clearing beyond the landing beach and once more broke apart into their pairs while they resolved that this time, they would all rush out at the same time as the soldiers did. Captain Hector Barbossa glanced at their adversaries, as he barely flinched when Jack the monkey jumped up on his shoulder, while the captain shook his head at the size of the force and he squinted as he studied Lord Beckett from afar, gauging his strength.

Finally, Barbossa turned to Gibbs and muttered, "He may look a little ugly, but I've heard about him...he's brutal."

Gibbs blinked and glanced around as he queried, "Did...did Captain Jack Sparrow tell you about him?"

Barbossa cleared his throat and lowered his voice, Jack the monkey jumping away to play somewhere else, as he responded, "Well, many years ago when we first met...he was still sensitive, then, about being known as a pirate and about his brand. Still, he did like to sort of brag that he had given as much as he had received...I don't know if it's true or not, but he told me that right after that Beckett fellow branded him on his arm, he managed to snatch away the branding iron in a struggle and branded Beckett on the back of his neck! I never knew what to think...what about you?"

Gibbs shrugged and told him, "Well, that isn't exactly the strangest tale I've heard either from or of Jack...I may very well believe it, especially when Beckett certainly does exist and there would be real proof that Jack had done such a thing, should we ever get the chance to pull off the lord's wig and brush aside whatever real hair he has to look at the back of the neck."

Barbossa chuckled while a short distance away, Anamaria led James Norrington over toward Tia Dalma, though he was mainly following her out of a strange fondness that he was growing for her, and the pair sat down beside Dalma while Marty cleared his throat and stood up, walking away to give them privacy. Dalma had pulled out her necklace, which she had kept hidden throughout this trip, and revealed the seashell locket...Anamaria stared at that locket and sighed softly to herself, not really noticing that she was clutching Norrington's hand as he inhaled deeply, glad that the parrot was quiet right now.

At last, Tia Dalma managed to ask, "You know what this is, don't you, Anamaria?"

Anamaria slowly nodded and answered, "You...you used to wind it up and play it for me, sister, when I was so young and lonely...you told me it was our mother's locket. It was given to her by Davy Jones, was it not?"

Dalma opened up the locket, staring at the gears as she replied, "Yes, it was, though now...if I see him this day, perhaps I'll give it back to him."

James shuddered and, perhaps at this sensation, Anamaria suddenly realized that she was holding Norrington's hand and quickly pulled it out of his grip as she brushed her hand on her trousers, biting her lips. Meanwhile, unnoticed, Tia Dalma smiled softly to herself and tucked her locket back into her shirt as nearby, Jack the monkey cackled and jumped out onto the beach, romping around for a few minutes while the soldiers did some target practice in an attempt to shoot the monkey.

Barbossa, watching, chuckled softly...you can't shoot an undead monkey.

Finally, Lord Cutler Beckett growled and halted the target practice as he raised his saber, roaring as the soldiers stormed forward and so, even though they were starting to grow weary from these last few rounds, Captain Hector Barbossa had no other choice but to bellow in turn as the pirates charged to meet the attack.


End file.
